• Extreme weather alerts cover much of the North Island for Cyclone Vaianu, expected to reach Northland and Auckland on Saturday night, then sweep south.
• Several regions have declared States of Emergency: Tauranga, Northland, Waikato, including the Coromandel Peninsula, three district councils in the Bay of Plenty, including Western Bay of Plenty, Whakatāne District and Opotiki, and Hawke’s Bay, but not Wairoa.
• Two areas are under a strong red wind warning: Great Barrier Island/Coromandel and Bay of Plenty and Rotorua.
• The Defence Force has arrived in Northland to help with weather issues, including rescues; local surf lifesavers will also provide assistance.
• Mandatory evacuations are underway this afternoon in Hawke’s Bay and Whakatāne. For Whakatāne, the evacuation order has been extended to Ōhope and Thornton, in addition to the existing mandatory evacuation of all homes in West End, Ōhope, up to and including the Beach Point Apartment complex.
• The storm is bringing strong winds and heavy rain, with many authorities warning to expect landslides and erosion, rising waterways, storm surges and heavy swells, trees down, and flooding.
• In some areas, people are being told to stay off the roads during the cyclone, and some highways and local roads are expected to be closed.

More than 1400 without power in Northland

More than 1400 homes are currently without power across the Far North as a result of Cyclone Vaianu.

The biggest outages, according to lines company Top Energy, are in South Hokianga, where just over 1000 households are in the dark, and in the Rāwhiti area, east of Russell, where almost 400 homes are affected.

South Hokianga was one of the areas worst affected by the March storm.

In the Northpower area, 300 homes around Ruawai and Matakohe have been without power since 8.20pm but it is not yet known if that is related to the storm.

Within Northland the highest rainfall intensities are along the east coast between the Bay of Islands and Whangārei.

Central Whangārei is currently the wettest place in the region with close to 30mm of rain in the past hour.

Tauranga Marae open for self-evacuation

Several marae in Tauranga have opened for self-evacuation,

Tauranga announced a state of emergency and urged people with coastal or low-lying properties to consider self-evacuating.

The Tauranga City Council is advising people to seek shelter with friends and whanau first.

But marae and evacuation centre Whakamarama Hall are welcoming people.

Mercury Baypark will open for self-evacuees from 8AM Sunday.

Matua Bowling Club will be open from 9AM to 4PM on Sunday

Evacuation centres open in Auckland

Auckland Emergency Management has opened five Civil Defence Centres for anyone displaced by Cyclone Vaianu.

Ostend Hall on Waiheke Island, Wellsford Community Centre, Shoesmith Hall in Warkworth, Helensville War Memorial Hall and the Ellen Melville Centre in central Auckland are providing emergency shelter.

Prepare for power outages: Thames-Coromandel mayor

The Thames-Coromandel mayor says people should prepare for power outages or the possibility of being isolated as Cyclone Vaianu heads towards the country.

The Coromandel Peninsula and Great Barrier Island are under a red level strong wind warning for 20 hours from 10pm tonight.

Mayor Peter Revell says gusts of up to 140 kilometres an hour are forecast.

He advises people in low-lying coastal areas, including campers, to move to higher ground.

A State of Emergency has been declared for Waikato, including the Coromandel.