CD says be ready for power cuts, road closures

Updated: 6:30pm – Civil Defence is warning people to plan ahead as Cyclone Gita heads our way, bringing heavy rain and high winds.

The storm is expected to move southeast across the upper South Island and lower North Island late on Tuesday and Wednesday, bringing heavy rain and gales.

Ministry of Civil Defence and Emergency Management director Sarah Stuart-Black said the storm could pack a punch.

She said people should prepare for power cuts, water outages and road closures.

Mrs Stuart-Black said it was a good idea to have a grab-bag in case of evacuation, and a household emergency plan.

The cyclone is currently tracking south-west of New Caledonia, but Metservice said it was expected to curve south-east and head towards New Zealand.

Though it was likely to be downgraded to an ex-tropical cyclone by the time it reached New Zealand, heavy rain and strong winds were still forecast.

A severe weather watch has been issued for a number of areas and Metservice said people should be aware of the potential for coastal inundation, flooding and damaging gales.

A heavy rain watch is in place for Marlborough, Nelson, Buller, Canterbury and parts of Westland, and Horowhenua, Kapiti and Wellington, from the early hours of Tuesday.

A strong wind watch is also in place for many of those areas for Tuesday afternoon onwards.

Metservice forecaster Rob Kerr said the centre of the storm would pass over the country on Wednesday.

Once the cyclone had made its turn, forecasters would begin to have a better idea of what areas were likely to take the biggest hit.

As well as the wind and rain, Mr Kerr said Metservice would be assessing what impact the timing of high tides would have on storm surges in coastal areas.

“We were very unlucky with (ex-cyclone) Fehi recently that high tide peaked at the time when the tropical cyclone and biggest swells were coming through.

“So that’s something we will have to look at with the variation of timing and potential for high tides affecting those areas as well.”

Meanwhile, all alerts have been lifted in New Caledonia as Tropical Cyclone Gita heads towards the south.

-RNZ

Featured image: Satellite imagery of Cyclone Gita. Photo: Metservice