13 February 2023 , 08:11
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Dozens of flights have been cancelled and thousands have been left without power as the second severe storm in a matter of weeks rips through New Zealand.
Cyclone Gabrielle plunged around 46,000 homes into darkness and forced some areas to declare a state of emergency just two weeks after a record-breaking storm killed four people.
The country's national carrier cancelled all domestic flights to and from Auckland as well as several international flights.
It also cancelled domestic flights to and from the cities of Hamilton, Taupo and Tauranga.
Air New Zealand cancelled more than 500 flights. More than 10,000 international customers had been affected, the airline said, with thousands still to be rebooked.
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People out looking at the effects of Cyclone Gabrielle at Mathesons Bay Beach (Getty Images)Residents of 50 Mt Eden apartments in Auckland were ordered to urgently evacuate on Monday morning amid fears that the 109-year-old tower could collapse.
Auckland Emergency Management controller Mace Ward said the forecast high winds and weather conditions could cause about 30m tower to collapse, damaging surrounding buildings.
New Zealand's prime minister Chris Hipkins said: "Please do take this seriously, we do expect severe weather is on the way.
“Extreme weather event has come on the back of extreme weather event. For families and businesses, I know that that has been just exhausting, and I want to acknowledge how hard many of them are doing it.”
A surfer heads out into large waves and rough seas from Cyclone Gabrielle (Getty Images)Weather forecaster MetService said there was a very high likelihood of “extreme, impactful, and unprecedented weather” over many regions, with heavy rain, strong winds and large waves.
The meteorological agency Metservice said Whangarei, a city north of Auckland, had received 4 inches in 12 hours, with winds of 1100 miles per hour recorded off the coast of Auckland.
Mr Hipkins warned that the worst was still to come as evacuations, rising flood waters and power outages continue across the North Island.
He said: "Things are likely to get worse before they get better."
He added that the “threshold for a national emergency has not yet been met” as of 4 pm on Monday but officials were “getting an update every four hours” and reassessing.