Waves crash against a sea wall at an Auckland beach. AP.
About 58,000 homes on New Zealand's upper North Island were left without power on Monday as Cyclone Gabrielle approaches.
The storm's approach has brought strong winds, heavy rains, and large swells as New Zealanders prepare for it to make landfall.
- Schools and local government facilities were closed in Auckland and the upper North Island.
- Whangarei, a city north of Auckland, was hit by winds of up to 100 miles per hour and 4 inches of rain in the last 12 hours.
- Northpower, which manages the energy grid for New Zealand's northern regions, said about half of its network had been damaged.
- It may take days to restore electricity to the 58,000 homes that have lost power, the Minister for Emergency Management said.
- Auckland and the upper North Island were hit by record rainfall last month, triggering floods that killed four people.
- Northpower has not seen such a large portion of its grid go offline since Cyclone Bola hit the country in 1988.
