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New Zealand issues severe weather warning as Tropical Cyclone Pam nears

Xinhua, March 13, 2015 Adjust font size:

New Zealand's government weather bureau on Friday issued a severe weather warning for the north and east of the North Island as Tropical Cyclone Pam approached after battering Tuvalu and the Solomon Islands.

Pam, which is expected to hit Vanuatu over the weekend, was moving slowly southwards with winds of 220 km per hour near the center and gales extending out to 300 km from the center, said a statement from MetService.

"Tropical Cyclone Pam is expected to move out of the tropics on Sunday morning and continue on a southeast track towards New Zealand. Based on the latest forecast tracks, it is expected to be just to the east of East Cape on Monday before passing near the Chatham Islands on Monday night," said the statement.

Heavy rain and gales were expected to hit the north and east of the North Island from late Sunday through to Tuesday.

"Aside from the heavy rain and gales that Tropical Cyclone Pam is expected to bring to parts of the North Island, heavy swells are likely to affect much of the east coast early next week," MetService meteorologist Peter Little said in the statement.

"The combination of the anticipated huge waves and strong onshore winds will make for extremely dangerous conditions near the coast."

Officials from the Ministry of Civil Defence and Emergency Management in the largest city of Auckland warned residents to expect severe weather from Sunday evening, bringing flooding, coastal erosion and possible power cuts.

Officials in the Gisborne region, which is expected to bear the brunt of the storm in New Zealand, on Friday warned residents to prepare and holidaymakers to leave coastal areas.

"At the moment, we are expecting the event to last until about late Wednesday afternoon. People should be prepared for strong winds, large sea surges, some rain -- although this is not expected to be significant -- coastal erosion, road closures and power loss," Gisborne manager emergency management Richard Steele said in a statement.

"We advise people to tie down anything that might fly away, get enough food and water for three days and secure boat moorings." Endi