Severe weather chaos: Power outages and travel disruptions amid ex-Cyclone Tam

Ex‑Tropical Cyclone Tam continues to lash the upper North Island, bringing gale-force winds, torrential rain, and power cuts. Authorities are urging residents to secure their properties.

Civil Defence reports that strong winds overnight have caused significant damage to the Northpower network, affecting about 30 areas severely, mostly due to trees falling on power lines.

Roofs have been torn off, two highways are closed after falling trees hit cars, and about 120 emergency calls have been made as winds reached up to 150km/h, accompanied by heavy rain in the far north.

MetService has issued orange heavy‑rain and strong‑wind warnings for Northland, Auckland, and Great Barrier Island. They predict gusts of up to 140km/h and as much as 130mm of extra rain in the northern region.

Six‑metre swells pose a risk to eastern coasts, with forecasters describing the system as the strongest to affect the area since 2017.

Nearly 25,000 properties in Northland and an undetermined number in Auckland are without electricity.

Fire and Emergency services responded to more than 50 incidents overnight, 33 in Northland and 24 in Auckland. The incidents mainly involved trees brought down by powerful winds.

The weather has cancelled six regional flights arriving and departing Auckland Airport. Thursday is expected to be the busiest day for domestic travel in and out of the airport.

Auckland Airport says four departing and two arriving flights have been cancelled.

Significant winds and torrential rains are set to continue up far north on Thursday, while the North Island and upper South Island can expect rains - MetService. Photo/X/NZ Herald

Dale Carline, General Manager of Operations at Counties-Manukau Energy, advises people to charge their devices and prepare for multi‑day outages, warning that repairs may be delayed if roads are blocked by slips.

Carline urges residents to treat all downed power lines as live, report faults via outage centres or by calling 111, and check on neighbours, especially those who rely on medical equipment, before conditions worsen.

The storm is expected to move into the Coromandel, Bay of Plenty and northern South Island areas starting Friday.

The storm hits in Whangārei on Thursday. Photo/RNZ/Nick Monro

Weathering the storm

The National Emergency Management Agency provides several important tips on what to do during a storm:

• Stay informed using battery-operated radios, activate household emergency plans, and avoid non‑essential travel.

• Secure or bring indoors any furniture, trampolines, and rubbish bins that could become projectiles in strong winds. Close curtains to reduce the risk of injury from broken glass.

• Have grab bags ready with torches, medications, and enough water for three days. Identify an internal room away from windows in case you need to seek shelter.

• Continue to follow updates from MetService and be prepared to evacuate if local Civil Defence issues instructions.

For more information on keeping your whānau safe, visit the Get Ready website for disaster preparedness advice.