“This is a multi-hazard area of low pressure that runs down. You can imagine that these strong winds rushing over the seas help to drive large swells across the open waters, and they run in from the northwest.

Swells up to 6, 8 metres
“And I think around those northern coasts, places like Northland and the Bay of Plenty, swell heights could be as much as six to eight metres.

“Now, adding to that, the wet weather coming down the rivers, the strong winds, the extra boost of that sea by the extra low pressure, those coastal eliminations, that risk does increase.”

Law also said it was “very unusual” to see the entire North Island under weather watches and warnings.

“Normally our watches and warnings, we try and keep them to as small an area as possible to kind of really focus in on those areas impacting.

“So the fact that the whole island has got these severe weather watches and warnings … it is an indication of the severity of the system coming through, not just in terms of the wet weather, but that wind, I think, is going to be one of the key features as we head through the weekend.

“As this system runs across us, we’ll find our winds changing direction… as they come in to start with we’re looking at northerly winds, but as the system sweeps down to the south, strong south or westerly winds behind it will also be another issue.

“So that change in direction, something else to keep in mind.”

Orange heavy rain warnings
Meanwhile, Auckland, Great Barrier Island, Coromandel Peninsula, Bay of Plenty west of Whakatane including Rotorua, and Gisborne/Tairawhiti north of Tolaga Bay are all under an orange heavy rain warning from the early hours of Sunday morning.

Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell says it will be a potentially significant and damaging storm, and Earth Sciences NZ predicted more than 200mm of rain could fall in some places across the upper North Island.

An orange strong wind warning is in place for Northland from 11pm Saturday until Sunday afternoon. Auckland, Waikato, Waitomo, Taupo, Taumarunui, Bay of Plenty and Rotorua, Gisborne/Tairawhiti, Hawke’s Bay, Taihape, Taranaki and Wanganui are all also under orange warnings which come into place overnight Saturday.

Aucklanders have been warned the Harbour Bridge might close due to strong winds.

FIFA matches advanced
FIFA World Cup qualifying matches due to be played in Hamilton on Sunday have been brought forward to Saturday to avoid the worst of it.

Officials said the decision was made to ensure the safety of participants and fans attending the games.

The Oceania semi-finals between the Football Ferns and Fiji and Papua New Guinea (PNG) and American Samoa were originally scheduled for Sunday afternoon in Hamilton.

They will now be played Saturday, with PNG playing American Samoa at midday and New Zealand playing Fiji at 4pm.

• RNZ is New Zealand’s statutory civil defence lifeline radio broadcaster. That means RNZ will provide vital information and updates as they come to hand on air and online during an emergency.
• Find the radio frequency for your area here and get prepared here.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Weather warnings in New Zealand’s North Island are starting to lift, as Tropical Cyclone Vaianu tracks away from the country.

Red and orange wind and rain warnings have been in place across much of the island since Friday.

All red warnings and most orange warnings have now expired or been lifted.

Orange wind warnings are in place in Hawkes Bay overnight and in Tararua from 10pm Sunday, while Bay of Plenty, Rotorua and Tairāwhiti have had overnight wind warnings downgraded to a yellow watch.

Metservice meteorologist John Law said the system was beginning to clear away.

“On the latest analysis, the central part of Cyclone Vaianu is now just off that eastern coast towards Hawkes Bay, with the winds now generally turning more southwesterly across New Zealand.

“We’ve still got some wet weather, particularly those areas east of Lake Taupō, but over the next few hours, we’ll start to find even that pulling away, as this whole system continues to move through.”

Far North mayor ‘grateful’
RNZ’s Peter de Graaf reports Far North Mayor Moko Tepania said he was breathing a huge sigh of relief after his district escaped serious damage from Cyclone Vaianu.

The district was the first to feel the effects of the cyclone on Saturday night, but the storm took a path further to the east than initially predicted, limiting its impact on Northland.

However, some areas, such as Whangārei’s central city, were lashed by more than 130mm of rain in a 24-hour period, and winds of 110km/h were recorded at Cape Reinga.

A buoy off the Bay of Islands recorded a maximum wave height of 10.8m on Saturday afternoon.

Tepania said the outcome was a huge relief.

“All of the reports that are coming in — and not just through our Emergency Operations Centre intelligence lines, but also the good old kūmara vine and our Kaitiaki Response Network on the ground — are showing us that the effects of Cyclone Vaianu have been very limited,” he said.

“Power outages, a few roofs that have blown off, but all in all, our roading networks made it through and rivers never breached warning levels. So I’m very grateful.”

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

“This is a multi-hazard area of low pressure that runs down. You can imagine that these strong winds rushing over the seas help to drive large swells across the open waters, and they run in from the northwest.

Swells up to 6, 8 metres
“And I think around those northern coasts, places like Northland and the Bay of Plenty, swell heights could be as much as six to eight metres.

“Now, adding to that, the wet weather coming down the rivers, the strong winds, the extra boost of that sea by the extra low pressure, those coastal eliminations, that risk does increase.”

Law also said it was “very unusual” to see the entire North Island under weather watches and warnings.

“Normally our watches and warnings, we try and keep them to as small an area as possible to kind of really focus in on those areas impacting.

“So the fact that the whole island has got these severe weather watches and warnings … it is an indication of the severity of the system coming through, not just in terms of the wet weather, but that wind, I think, is going to be one of the key features as we head through the weekend.

“As this system runs across us, we’ll find our winds changing direction… as they come in to start with we’re looking at northerly winds, but as the system sweeps down to the south, strong south or westerly winds behind it will also be another issue.

“So that change in direction, something else to keep in mind.”

Orange heavy rain warnings
Meanwhile, Auckland, Great Barrier Island, Coromandel Peninsula, Bay of Plenty west of Whakatane including Rotorua, and Gisborne/Tairawhiti north of Tolaga Bay are all under an orange heavy rain warning from the early hours of Sunday morning.

Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell says it will be a potentially significant and damaging storm, and Earth Sciences NZ predicted more than 200mm of rain could fall in some places across the upper North Island.

An orange strong wind warning is in place for Northland from 11pm Saturday until Sunday afternoon. Auckland, Waikato, Waitomo, Taupo, Taumarunui, Bay of Plenty and Rotorua, Gisborne/Tairawhiti, Hawke’s Bay, Taihape, Taranaki and Wanganui are all also under orange warnings which come into place overnight Saturday.

Aucklanders have been warned the Harbour Bridge might close due to strong winds.

FIFA matches advanced
FIFA World Cup qualifying matches due to be played in Hamilton on Sunday have been brought forward to Saturday to avoid the worst of it.

Officials said the decision was made to ensure the safety of participants and fans attending the games.

The Oceania semi-finals between the Football Ferns and Fiji and Papua New Guinea (PNG) and American Samoa were originally scheduled for Sunday afternoon in Hamilton.

They will now be played Saturday, with PNG playing American Samoa at midday and New Zealand playing Fiji at 4pm.

• RNZ is New Zealand’s statutory civil defence lifeline radio broadcaster. That means RNZ will provide vital information and updates as they come to hand on air and online during an emergency.
• Find the radio frequency for your area here and get prepared here.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Coromandel Peninsula and Gisborne north of Tolaga Bay are now under red heavy rain warnings in Aotearoa New Zealand linked to Cyclone Gabrielle.

MetService says it expects up to 400 mm of rain to fall in the regions, mostly on Monday.

Civil Defence Controller for the Coromandel Garry Towler said that as well as heavy rain, winds of up to 130 km/h were expected and after weeks of severe weather, civil defence officials are very worried.

Towler said the Coromandel was in a fragile state after the extreme weather battering late last month — which left four people dead — and Civil Defence was deploying as many resources onto the Coromandel as it could.

He said a mobile alert would be issued this afternoon, and warnings would go out to people in vulnerable areas.

The storm is due to track across Northland on Sunday before moving south to Auckland, Coromandel, Waikato, Bay of Plenty and Gisborne on Monday and Tuesday.

Forecasters are warning of strong wind, heavy rain and big seas.

Widespread severe weather
MetService meteorologist Lewis Ferris said the cyclone would bring widespread severe weather.

The cyclone had taken a more eastern track over the last few days, but there was still disagreement over where the central point will lie when it made landfall, Ferris said.

“It’s still looking like Monday-Tuesday are going to be the biggest days for the weather with the approaching cyclone. The worst impacts, where they are and when they occur, are still going to be riding on where the track of the cyclone actually eventuates.”

It is possible that even Wellington could see some impacts, MetService said.

The cyclone has been upgraded to category 3.

MetService has issued heavy rain and strong wind watches ahead of its arrival.

Earlier today, MetService issued upgraded orange heavy rain and wind warnings associated with Cyclone Gabrielle.

Orange warnings
The orange warnings covered Northland, Auckland north of Whangaparaoa, including Great Barrier Island, Coromandel Peninsula, Gisborne and Hawke’s Bay.

The rest of the North Island was under a strong wind watch, along with Marlborough, Nelson and Buller north of Seddonville in the South Island.

There was also a heavy swell warning for Wairarapa.

Meanwhile, the government is urging people to avoid non-essential travel in areas that could be hit by Cyclone Gabrielle.

Air New Zealand is offering flight deferrals in affected areas, asking people to postpone air travel unless it was urgent.

Emergency Management Minister Kieran McAnulty said safety trumped the disappointment of scrapping weekend plans.

“We would urge people, despite the inconvenience this would naturally cause, to heed that advice, because it is not given lightly,” he said.

“We are taking this very seriously. Depending on how this tracks it could be quite severe and we’re just asking people to take it seriously.”

McAnulty said he had assurances government agencies and local civil defence services would update their social media channels regularly.

People were also being urged to stock three days’ worth of food and water and prepare for possible power outages.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

• Latest advice from Civil Defence here.
• Latest MetService warnings are here.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Cook Islands has suspended the travel bubble with New Zealand after NZ officials reported new covid-19 community cases in Auckland.

Four new community cases have been reported by health authorities — including an Auckland nurse — taking the total to five.

The new cases are all linked to yesterday’s first case in Auckland, which has been confirmed as delta variant.

“While the epidemiological variance and transmission link for the community case in New Zealand is still being investigated, we must act swiftly here to minimise exposure risk for the Cook Islands so we remain safe,” said Prime Minister Mark Brown.

This alert level change will mean that international inwards passenger arrivals for 72 hours through to Thursday have been suspended.

The pause on international arrivals will allow Te Marae Ora Ministry of Health to test arriving passengers from August 11.

This also means domestic travel to the Pa Enua from Rarotonga is suspended until Thursday.

Passengers can return to NZ
Passengers can return to New Zealand from Rarotonga. Passengers from Pa Enua can return back to Rarotonga.

The alert level change and travel bubble suspension was announced after a 58-year-old Devonport man tested positive yesterday in Auckland, New Zealand, after visiting a GP. He was infectious from August 12.

The man, who was not vaccinated, and his wife travelled to Coromandel over the weekend. His wife was fully vaccinated.

He is considered to have become infectious on August 12. There were 23 locations of interest, 10 in Auckland and 13 in Coromandel.

Auckland and Coromandel went into level 4 lockdown for seven days – and the rest of New Zealand for three days – from 11.59pm (NZ time) last night.

While announcing the nationwide alert level change last night, Prime Minister Brown said the Cabinet made the decision based on the information available “at this time, all necessary precautions have been considered”.

“While the epidemiological variance and transmission link for the community case in New Zealand is still being investigated, we must act swiftly here to minimise exposure risk for the Cook Islands so we remain safe,” Brown said.

Cooks Cabinet to meet
“This is a good time to remind ourselves of the need to practice good hygiene measures, and to actively tag in with Cooksafe and Cooksafe+.”

The Cook Islands Cabinet will meet again today to consider new updated information received and next steps.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said last night the positive case could not be confirmed as delta until genome sequencing was confirmed today, but every recent MIQ case had been delta.

Today Ardern confirmed that all five cases were the delta variant.

“We’ve seen the dire consequences of taking too long to act in other countries, not least our neighbours … the (family) bubble is back,” she said.

Ardern said the delta variant was potentially twice as infectious and more liable to cause severe illness.

“We are one of the last countries in the world to have the delta variant in our community. This has given us the chance to learn from others.”

She said delta was a “game-changer” and there needed to be a rapid response to stop the spread.

“We only get one chance.”

Ardern said physical distancing was even more important given how easily delta can be transmitted – including through the air. There would be a 48-hour window for people to relocate in New Zealand.

Cook Islands News stories are republished by Asia Pacific Report with permission.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz