Northland woke this morning to the destruction caused by Cyclone Gabrielle overnight and reports of large-scale power outages and fallen trees blocking roads, with Civil Defence bracing for more damage as high tide approaches.
According to Northland Regional Council Hydrology, the highest rainfall totals over the 30 hours from 9 pm on Saturday to 3 am Sunday have been near Whangarei, with 188mm recorded by the regional council’s Glenbervie rain gauge, 174mm at Water Street in Whangarei, and 146mm recorded at Puhipuhi.
Roads in and around Whangārei have been inundated with flooding, with some gathering at Kākā Porowini marae to wait out the weather, which isn't expected to lift until Tuesday.
According to the Northland Civil Defence's Facebook page, Northland has had gusts of up to 140km/h. Fire and Emergency’s callouts had mostly been for fallen trees and downed power lines, with smaller numbers of roofs lifting and sheds being blown down. The combination of lower barometric pressure and storm surge has bought flooding to a number of coastal locations and there have also been reports of boats being blown ashore.
Due to the relatively low intensity of the rainfall so far, most rivers are coping at this point.
However, as the centre of the low-pressure system moves closer throughout the day, this is likely to result in even higher tides than Northlane has had so far. The next high tides for Whangarei are 12.45 pm today, and then about 1am tomorrow morning. High tide on the Northern Wairoa at Dargaville was at 4.30am.