The cyclone, Gabrielle, battered most of the North Island, the northern part of the country, which includes its most populous city, Auckland, according to the National Emergency Management Agency. Military officials said that at least 200 members of the Royal New Zealand Navy, the army, and the Royal New Zealand Air Force were involved in the response.
“Cyclone Gabrielle is the most significant weather event New Zealand has seen this century,” Chris Hipkins, New Zealand’s prime minister, said at a news conference. “The severity and the breadth of the damage that we are seeing has not been experienced in a generation.”
Officials said that the cyclone had socked the North Island with heavy rain, severe winds and very large waves before moving out to sea. MetService, the national weather authority, said that wind gusts of more than 90 mph had blasted many parts of the island and that a few exposed areas had reported gusts of more than 105 mph.