NZ North Island residents urged to follow cyclone advice

Auckland residents hunkered down Monday as they braced for a deluge from Cyclone Gabrielle, two weeks after a record-breaking storm swamped New Zealand's largest city and killed four people. New Zealand Emergency Management Minister Kieran McAnulty told reporters in Wellington that the cyclone is impacting the country's upper North Island with heavy rain and high winds.

He urged residents to follow the advice of emergency services. Authorities declared a state of emergency in Northland, Auckland and some other regions. Weather forecaster, the 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.