Wellington, March 15 (QNA) - Heavy rain, severe gales and swells are starting to hit the North Island as Cyclone Pam makes its way past New Zealand.
The cyclone has weakened to a category 4 storm as it tracks down the Pacific to New Zealand but is still expected pack a punch as it moves across the north toward the east coast tonight.
The cyclone has left a path of destruction in Vanuatu, where dozens of people were feared killed when it hit yesterday.
It was reclassified from a category 5 system to category 4 on Sunday, and was expected to be of category three strength at midnight, a MetService forecaster said.
The Fire Service has reallocated crews to "vulnerable" coastal areas in advance of Cyclone Pam.
Deputy National Commander Paul McGill said 70 firefighters and 30 appliances had been moved on Saturday to support local crews.
Getting in early will enable us to respond more effectively when the cyclone hits," he said.
An Auckland-based force has been moved to Northland, Hamilton and Rotorua crews have reinforced the eastern Bay of Plenty and a Wellington taskforce has been moved to Hawke's Bay which will in turn support Poverty Bay.
McGill said the Fire Service had activated three regional and five local co-ordination centres to assist with any flooding, slips or damage that might occur MetService meteorologist Peter Little said north-eastern parts of the North Island from Northland down into the Bay of Plenty, Gisborne and Hawke's bay should brace for strong weather on Sunday evening.
"Severe and dangerous weather is still expected in the north-east parts of the country ... as the cyclone approaches, or by the time it gets here it may be a deep low but it doesn't really matter what it's called, we're going to have some strong weather," he said.
It was already raining in eastern Northland and things would pick up later, with winds in the area reaching up to 120kmh.
But the real brunt was expected to be felt on the eastern coast of the North Island, with about 200mm of rain and winds gusting more than 160kmh possible.
These would hit the area late Sunday evening and continue overnight and into Monday morning. (QNA)