{"id":376305,"date":"2026-04-12T19:22:16","date_gmt":"2026-04-12T19:22:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/376305\/"},"modified":"2026-04-12T19:22:16","modified_gmt":"2026-04-12T19:22:16","slug":"nz-getting-a-cyclone-season-cyclone-vaianus-impacts-felt-across-the-north-island","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/376305\/","title":{"rendered":"NZ ‘getting a cyclone season’: Cyclone Vaianu’s impacts felt across the North Island"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Car<\/p>\n

\nA car written off in Whitianga following the stom.
\nPhoto: RNZ \/ Marika Khabazi\n<\/p>\n

The North Island has taken yet another hammering, with Cyclone Vaianu’s wrath lashing the north and east.<\/p>\n

Hundreds of households were evacuated, while thousands more went without power as fallen trees took down lines.<\/p>\n

It also caused storm surges and massive ocean swells.<\/p>\n

Cyclone Vaianu – live updates<\/a><\/p>\n

Vaianu’s force was first felt in Northland.<\/p>\n

Auriole Ruka hosted some of Whang\u0101rei’s rough sleepers at Te Renga Paraoa Marae. Nineteen people took shelter in the wharenui, while Ruka and her husband Ralph made breakfast.<\/p>\n

“Porridge [with] brown sugar and cream, but we’re going to have scrambled eggs, because we’ve got a whole lot of eggs given to us, and some bacon as well too, so it’s a meal fit for kings and queens.”<\/p>\n

Ruka said putting the shelter up was a collective effort.<\/p>\n

“We’ve been doing this since Cyclone Gabrielle with our kaitiaki trustees across the region.<\/p>\n

“The last time we had about 90 come through\u2026 you can never tell, but we believe [if] one person comes through, that’s enough for us to stand up the marae and support.”<\/p>\n

Further inland, the small isolated village of Pipiwai organised its own relief effort. Pipiwai is next to the Hikurangi River, which overflowed and cut off access to vital roadways.<\/p>\n

Local kaimahi Rai Rakich said the infrastructure was not up to scratch.<\/p>\n

“We don’t have any wastewater systems in place. All of our k\u0101inga houses here have just got their own septic systems in place.<\/p>\n

“Our roading network’s been flooding for a long, long time now.<\/p>\n

“Whenever we want to get tar seals done, or roads fixed, it’s a big whawhai – battle – almost.”<\/p>\n

\"Rangitihi<\/p>\n

\nRangitihi Marae committee member Matengawha Hataraka says it is no stranger to caring for people during weather events.
\nPhoto: Robin Martin\n<\/p>\n

The Coromandel Peninsula town of Whitianga was cut off as roads flooded and slips came down<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Rob Aro – visiting from the United Kingdom – said the emergency alerts frightened his family, so they stocked up on food and sandbagged their rental property.<\/p>\n

“[We’re] a bit nervous, obviously we’re trying to go back to Auckland in a few days’ time. The roads have been closed so we’re a bit worried about how we return our hire car and get on the plane but, you know, hopefully it’ll all work out.<\/p>\n

“I heard the army’s been involved and the Civil Defence are really organised, so hopefully that’s all that’s needed and they’ll be able to clear a way for us.”<\/p>\n

\"People<\/p>\n

\nPeople out in Whitianga amid Cyclone Vaianu.
\nPhoto: RNZ \/ Marika Khabazi\n<\/p>\n

There was further flooding in the Waikato town of Paeroa, where resident Helen Baker told RNZ the water had formed a moat around her house.<\/p>\n

“I said to somebody, it’s like New Zealand’s getting a cyclone season. You wouldn’t have said that in the past, that we had a cyclone season. That’s what it’s become, I guess.<\/p>\n

“It’s all part of the global warming environment we’re living in.<\/p>\n

“I think people are resilient. We know the areas that will flood.”<\/p>\n

\"Eric<\/p>\n

\nEric Maras, 81, had been evacuated from a low-lying area of Matat\u0101 to Rangitihi Marae.
\nPhoto: Robin Martin\n<\/p>\n

Eric Maras, 81, was one of nine people evacuated to Rangitihi Marae in Matat\u0101.<\/p>\n

“They come and get us to stay over there. That woman on a truck – her and her husband come down, and told us they’d been looking around for us. They saw us, but they told us to come to the marae and stay here.”<\/p>\n

\"\u014chope<\/p>\n

\n\u014chope resident Garth Carrington and his family stayed put as Cyclone Vaianu arrived. Many of Garth’s neighbours also remained in their homes despite encouragement from authorities to evacuate.
\nPhoto: RNZ\/Calvin Samuel\n<\/p>\n

Further west in \u014chope, Garth Carrington was going nowhere.<\/p>\n

“We weighed up our options and decided to stay. We had other places to go, but the way I see it is the cyclone was hitting the whole area – whether we’re here or over there, it’s still going to be windy and rainy, but it’s more comfortable at home for us.”<\/p>\n

Carrington said the wind was strong, but he never feared for his or his family’s safety.<\/p>\n

Later on Sunday, those who had been evacuated in the Bay of Plenty were able to return home – as long as it was safe for them to do so.<\/p>\n

Two-hundred ann seventy households in \u014chope and Thornton were forced to evacuate, while an unknown number had chosen to.<\/p>\n

Sign up for Ng\u0101 Pitopito K\u014drero, a daily newsletter<\/a> curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A car written off in Whitianga following the stom. Photo: RNZ \/ Marika Khabazi The North Island has…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":376306,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[48,47,111,43,139,69,49,46,44,45],"class_list":{"0":"post-376305","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-zealand","8":"tag-audio","9":"tag-current-affairs","10":"tag-new-zealand","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-newzealand","13":"tag-nz","14":"tag-podcasts","15":"tag-public-radio","16":"tag-radio-new-zealand","17":"tag-rnz"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/376305","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=376305"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/376305\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/376306"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=376305"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=376305"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=376305"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}