This was a screenshot taken on my phone at approx 8.30pm, while I was at work this evening. We could hear the wind howling outside and rain was lashing the windows.
I had been following the progress of the cyclone as it moved down over New Zealand. The map shows the eye just above the Coromandel peninsula. Northland, Auckland, and Coromandel were especially hard hit initially, followed by the east coast. The blue/purple/pink indicates areas receiving heavy rain at that time (we are in the middle of that area, on the coast).
It was hard not to be anxious as I kept in touch with my husband John @nzkites, my mother and sister throughout the evening. John reported the very strong winds were rocking the motorhome despite being in a relatively sheltered spot and being parked head into the wind. He downplayed it at the time but later said it was very bad. At about 10 pm the local met service was reporting the wind strength at around 60km/hr. I heard later that gusts as high as 140km/hr were measured.
At the end of my shift, I walked to the carpark with two of my colleagues, getting soaked on the way. Thankfully it was only a short drive back to the motorhome, as the rain was blowing horizontally and there was a lot of debris on the roads including a few tree branches.
Over the next few days we realised how badly some other areas had been affected. Massive flooding, evacuations, power, internet and cellphone outages, destruction of homes and livelihoods, and loss of life, with many still unaccounted for.
I think you got off very lightly Janice. In a motor home in that cyclone…wow, scary! I talked to our son in North Island this morning & he sent videos plus I follow NZ farming & NZ Herald. Truly shocking, all those lovely tree broken & flattened! So glad you are OK but it will take a long time to get over it.
@happypat Where does your son live? Yes we did get off lightly in Tauranga, some trees down but no flooding that we know of. We have family in Napier, they are all safe but that area has been terribly hard hit.
@chikadnz Ant lives in Kinloch. He is a fencer & is working along highway five at the moment. We have a grandson in Morrinsville who is a fire fighter & the rest of the family now in South Island. We visited Napier last time we were over.
It gave me chills reading your comments. We had very little impact from the cyclone and all my family is safe. Sadly the same can't be said for so many others
