{"id":372867,"date":"2026-04-10T11:36:15","date_gmt":"2026-04-10T11:36:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/372867\/"},"modified":"2026-04-10T11:36:15","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T11:36:15","slug":"it-will-hit-hard-with-a-big-impact-on-nz","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/372867\/","title":{"rendered":"‘It will hit hard, with a big impact on NZ’"},"content":{"rendered":"

MetService has outlined the potential path of Cyclone Vaianu<\/a> in greater detail this afternoon, as the category 2 cyclone<\/a> is expected to be a “very large, damaging system”. <\/p>\n

“It will be the Far North that first experiences the\u00a0strong winds, heavy rain,\u00a0and rough seas brought by\u00a0Cyclone\u00a0Vaianu from late Saturday,” MetService said. <\/p>\n

The forecaster said overnight Saturday and into Sunday, Cyclone Vaianu would move\u00a0south-eastwards\u00a0across the North Island.<\/p>\n

Severe weather warnings and watches cover the North Island and the top of the South Island.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Coromandel\u00a0Peninsula on North Island\u2019s east coast has been given the most severe warnings ahead of the storm.\u00a0 (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n

Late last night, Cyclone Vaianu was reclassified as a sub-tropical system which reflects the “changing characteristics of the cyclone”. <\/p>\n

“The combination of damaging winds, heavy rain,\u00a0and coastal inundation makes this a multi-hazard, potentially life-threatening event,” it said<\/p>\n

“The locations of the most severe impacts associated with Cyclone Vaianu,\u00a0such as power outages, falling trees, flooding, slips, road closures,\u00a0and isolated communities are highly dependent on the cyclone’s track.”<\/p>\n

Earlier this morning, MetService meteorologist Heather Keats told Breakfast that the downgrade to a category 2 cyclone “doesn’t change anything for us”.<\/p>\n

“It doesn’t change the threat, it doesn’t change the intensity, it simply changes the structure of it. It means it’s not recieving that same tropical fuel that it was getting, so the characteristics change. <\/p>\n

Yellow heavy rain watches and warnings issued previously for the entire North Island<\/a> have now been upgraded to orange for many regions, with a red-level wind warning<\/a> issued for Coromandel Peninsula and Great Barrier Island on Sunday morning. <\/a><\/p>\n

\"Sandbags<\/p>\n

Sandbags pictured in Takapuna ahead of Cyclone Vaianu’s landfall on Sunday. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n

She warned of road closures, communities cut off and power outages for regions which had already been hit hard by severe weather over the last few years. <\/p>\n

Keats said people often get fixated on the “eye” of the cyclone, but said this was “not the only problem”. <\/p>\n

Events cancelled and families pack up ahead of\u00a0Cyclone Vaianu coming in from the north.\u00a0 (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n

“Some of the worst weather we experience with cyclones in New Zealand is actually hours ahead of that front arriving. <\/p>\n

“So yes, that ‘eye’ if you like, is expected to hit over the top of the Coromandel, move over the Bay of Plenty and out over Hawke’s Bay to that east over Sunday. But we’re experiencing very, very heavy rain and strong winds hours ahead of that eye arriving.”<\/p>\n

NEMA urges people to prepare<\/p>\n

NEMA’s Director of Civil Defence Emergency Management John Price outlined some of the ‘critical’ impacts, and urged people not to be complacent. (Source: Breakfast)<\/p>\n

NEMA\u2019s Director of Civil Defence Emergency Management John Price<\/a> outlined some of the \u201ccritical\u201d impacts, and urged people not to be complacent. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s going to be a number of components to the cyclone. It will hit hard, with a big impact on NZ. It will be significant, it will be fast, it will leave us in its wake.” <\/p>\n

He said there would be strong winds, downed trees and flooding from intense rainfall. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe also know with a cyclone or ex-tropical cyclone, you\u2019ll get the impact on the likes of the coast. We\u2019re likely to see anywhere between 6m to 8m swells,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

The morning’s headlines in 90 seconds, including fresh warnings about Cyclone Vaianu, and Melania Trump addresses Epstein rumours. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n

Asked to compare the intensity to Cyclone Gabrielle, he said the modelling was looking more similar to Cyclone Cook in 2017. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s got a very similar track where it came through at the top of the North Island, came through the East Coast. <\/p>\n

He said it was the \u201ccalm before the storm\u201d, and urged people to take the time to prepare now. <\/p>\n

‘We are ready to respond’ – FENZ<\/p>\n

Fire and Emergency New Zealand said it was pre-positioning specialist resources, including enhanced rescue and water rescue teams, at areas across the North Island. <\/p>\n

“This is expected to be a fast moving and high intensity storm with a wide area of impact, including areas still recovering from severe weather in March,” said FENZ Deputy National Commander Megan Stiffler. <\/p>\n

“Flooding, landslides and falling trees can be expected, with consequent impacts on power, communications, and travel.<\/p>\n

“We are ready to respond where we are needed, and we have extra resourcing ready to be deployed at short notice.”<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A composite image from Japan’s Himawari-8 satellite at 6.40pm on Friday night. (Source: Japan’s Himawari-8 satellite)<\/p>\n

Stiffler advised those in affected areas not to drive through floodwaters during treacherous conditions. <\/p>\n

“In floodwaters, you can\u2019t tell how deep the water is, or how swift. The road may have been washed away and there could be hidden obstacles,” she said. <\/p>\n

“At home, tie or take down trampolines and outdoor furniture and prepare for power outages.<\/p>\n

“We recommend using torches and battery powered devices wherever possible to reduce the risk of unwanted fire in your home during a power outage.”<\/p>\n

Boaties urged to ‘take special care’ <\/p>\n

The Ports of Auckland is being cleared of shipping vessels while a stern warning has been issued to boaties.<\/p>\n

Auckland harbourmaster Andrew Hayton told 1News his team had been working closely with the Ports of Auckland to determine shipping schedules for large commercial vessels. <\/p>\n

“Most of them have delayed their entry into Monday, and we\u2019ll be sending some of them to sea on Saturday so they\u2019re not in port during the bad weather.” <\/p>\n

He said the main focus was on large commercial ships, as this took a lot more effort to organise. <\/p>\n

“So the commercial boats are generally taken care of, but recreational boats we’re trying to get the message out there to be prepared. And to go out today.” <\/p>\n

“Don\u2019t wait for the bad weather to strike, and make sure your boat is ready to encounter the bad weather that is expected.”<\/p>\n

Hayton said there were 3500 boats on rope moorings in the Auckland region. “Those are probably the ones that are the most at risk of bad weather. <\/p>\n

“After every storm we always get some that break off and come ashore. So we\u2019re urging people to take special care of their vessels. <\/p>\n

“In this particularly instance we\u2019ve got some time to prepare for it, so go out today, make sure that your mooring is in good condition, that loose sails and tied down and there\u2019s nothing loose on deck.\u201d <\/p>\n

Hayton said boaties on moorings in exposed locations could consider moving to a marina or sheltered bay over the weekend. <\/p>\n

Current watches and warnings<\/p>\n

\"Further<\/p>\n

Further areas are likely to be upgraded to Orange or Red as the cyclone approaches and it’s track becomes clearer. (Source: Supplied)<\/p>\n

Strong Wind Warning \u2013 Red<\/p>\n

Coromandel Peninsula and Great Barrier Island \u2013 13 hours from 5am Sunday to 6pm Sunday.<\/p>\n

Heavy Rain Warning \u2013 Orange<\/p>\n

Northland, about and south of Bay of Islands to Hokianga Harbour \u2013 12 hours from 9pm Saturday to 9am Sunday.<\/p>\n

Auckland and Great Barrier Island \u2013 12 hours from 2am Sunday to 2pm Sunday.<\/p>\n

Coromandel Peninsula, and Bay of Plenty west of Whakat\u0101ne including Rotorua \u2013 14 hours from 2am Sunday to 4pm Sunday.<\/p>\n

Gisborne\/Tair\u0101whiti north of Tolaga Bay \u2013 14 hours from 2am Sunday to 4pm Sunday.<\/p>\n

Strong Wind Warning \u2013 Orange<\/p>\n

Northland \u2013 15 hours from 11pm Saturday to 2pm Sunday.<\/p>\n

Auckland \u2013 19 hours from 9pm Saturday to 4pm Sunday.<\/p>\n

Waikato, Waitomo, Taup\u014d and Taumarunui \u2013 12 hours from 10am Sunday to 10pm Sunday.<\/p>\n

Bay of Plenty and Rotorua \u2013 15 hours from 4am Sunday to 7pm Sunday.<\/p>\n

Gisborne\/Tair\u0101whiti, Hawke\u2019s Bay and Taihape \u2013 16 hours from 10am Sunday to 2am Monday.<\/p>\n

Taranaki and Whanganui \u2013 10 hours from 1pm Sunday to 11pm Sunday.<\/p>\n

Heavy Rain Watch<\/p>\n

Northland north of Bay of Islands to Hokianga Harbour \u2013 12 hours from 7pm Saturday to 7am Sunday.<\/p>\n

Waikato \u2013 15 hours from 3am Sunday to 6pm Sunday.<\/p>\n

Bay of Plenty about and east of Whakat\u0101ne \u2013 15 hours from 6am Sunday to 9pm Sunday.<\/p>\n

Gisborne\/Tair\u0101whiti about and south of Tolaga Bay, Hawke\u2019s Bay ranges, and coastal hills south of Napier \u2013 16 hours from 2am Sunday to 6pm Sunday.<\/p>\n

Waitomo, Taumarunui, Taup\u014d and Taranaki \u2013 12 hours from 8am Sunday to 8pm Sunday.<\/p>\n

Wairarapa, including the Tararua District, also eastern and southern parts of Wellington \u2013 12 hours from 11am Sunday to 11pm Sunday.<\/p>\n

Marlborough Sounds, including northeastern areas north of Kaik\u014dura \u2013 10 hours from 2pm Sunday to midnight Sunday.<\/p>\n

Strong Wind Watch<\/p>\n

Manawat\u016b, Kapiti Coast and Wellington \u2013 19 hours from 11am Sunday to 6am Monday.<\/p>\n

Wairarapa, including the Tararua District \u2013 21 hours from noon Sunday to 9am Monday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MetService has outlined the potential path of Cyclone Vaianu in greater detail this afternoon, as the category 2…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":372868,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[111,43,139,69,6563,3393],"class_list":{"0":"post-372867","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-zealand","8":"tag-new-zealand","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-newzealand","11":"tag-nz","12":"tag-storms","13":"tag-weather-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/372867","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=372867"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/372867\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/372868"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=372867"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=372867"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=372867"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}