BBC News

 

New Zealand has declared a state of emergency due to Cyclone Gabrielle, the third such alert in its history.

The Minister for Emergency Management, Kieran McAnulty, signed the declaration into place Tuesday morning.

It will apply to the Northland, Auckland, Tairawhiti, Bay of Plenty, Waikato and Hawkes Bay regions and streamline the government's response to the disaster.

At least 38,000 homes were without power on Tuesday morning.

In New Zealand's largest city, Auckland, authorities earlier evacuated people from 50 homes around a 30m-high tower that was in danger of collapse, local media reported. Dozens of evacuation centres have also been set up in the city.

Mr McAnulty described the storm as "an unprecedented weather event".

 

He said the state of emergency will allow for federal co-ordination of a clean- up response and would provide additional resources to those who are affected. It also gives the government more power to respond to dangerous situations, including restricting travel.

New Zealand's Prime Minister Chris Hipkins announced a NZ$11.5m (£6m; US$7.3m) aid package on Monday.

As pointed out, it was declared to allow resources to be sent, but it doesn't mean that all of NZ was affected.

Where I live it wasn't more than a strong wind and a lot of rain. No power cuts, flooding or destruction that I'm aware of.