New Zealand's Auckland braces for ex-cyclone Gabrielle impact

Residents of New Zealand's biggest metropolis were urged connected Sunday to hole for the interaction of a tempest that buffeted Australia's Norfolk Island overnight.

Gabrielle, downgraded to a sub-tropical debased unit strategy from a Category 2 cyclone, passed implicit Norfolk Island, its "most destructive winds" missing the island, the Australian outpost's exigency absorption authorization said.

The absorption shifts to New Zealand, 1,460 kilometres (910 miles) south, wherever the nation's upwind forecaster warned of the storm's interaction from Sunday. Last period the largest city, Auckland, was deed by grounds rainfall that sparked floods and killed 4 people.

The metropolis of 1.6 cardinal was successful enactment for a "full trifecta" of dense rain, beardown winds and tempest surges, said Georgina Griffith, a spokeswoman for the forecaster, MetService.

"Don't beryllium fooled if you're not affected until Tuesday," she told reporters.

Wind and rainfall were "starting to dispersed crossed NZ from the north", with a 133 kph (83 mph) upwind gust reported overnight connected the country's North Island, MetService said.

Auckland Emergency Management warned the metropolis was apt to beryllium deed by beardown winds connected Sunday night, with gusts of up to 140 kph (90 mph) oregon higher from Monday.

With Gabrielle closing in, Air New Zealand said it was cancelling aggregate long-haul planetary fights connected Monday, arsenic good arsenic Tasman and Pacific Island flights, and home services successful and retired of Auckland.

Mayor Wayne Brown's bureau urged residents to prepare, including by tying down escaped outdoor items and ensuring houses were wide of debris.

The tempest was connected way to prevarication disconnected Cape Reinga astatine the North Island's northbound extremity connected Sunday afternoon, aft moving distant from Norfolk Island, MetService said.

On Norfolk Island, which covers conscionable implicit 34 quadrate km (13 quadrate miles) successful the Pacific Ocean betwixt New Caledonia and New Zealand, authorities said they were clearing debris and trees from roads and restoring powerfulness knocked retired successful the storm.

"There is inactive sizeable cleanable up to beryllium undertaken and it whitethorn instrumentality a portion for services specified arsenic powerfulness to beryllium restored," Emergency Management Norfolk Island said.

Its astir 2,000 residents, immoderate descended from British sailors who mutinied connected the HMS Bounty successful the 18th century, had been "extremely fortunate" with the transition of the cyclone, the bureau said, arsenic winds eased and an all-clear was issued.