Cyclone Gabrielle: Sailor rescued amid storm as New Zealand declares state of emergency

ITV News Correspondent Sally Biddulph reports on a "once in a generation weather event"

A lone sailor was rescued by New Zealand's defence force amid Cyclone Gabrielle on Tuesday.

The distressed sailor's yacht was pushed out onto choppy waters due to the cyclone winds, and due to the extreme weather he could not be airlifted to safety.

Instead the man, who wearing a life jacket, left the yacht and was pulled out of the sea by two Navy divers on board the defence force's Rigid Inflatable Hull (RHIB) sea boat.

Earlier, a state of emergency was declared in the country after Cyclone Gabrielle - described as the nation's most severe weather event in years - swept through the north of the country. This is the third time a state of emergency has been declared in New Zealand.

It comes just two weeks after the country's largest city, Auckland, was swamped by a record-breaking storm that killed four people.

Overnight, a volunteer firefighter was reported missing, after being caught in a landslide near Auckland, says New Zealand fire service.

One firefighter was rescued early this morning and is in a critical condition.

The search for the second firefighter was suspended as it was too dangerous to continue.

Heavy rainfall overnight caused 2,500 people to evacuate and brought widespread flooding.

Roads were also closed, including the main route between Auckland and the capital Wellington.

Weather conditions eased on Tuesday as the storm moved away from New Zealand. But 225,000 homes and businesses remained without power and people were continuing to be evacuated, emergency services reported.

The power grid had not experienced such damage since 1988, when Cyclone Bola became one of the most destructive storms to ever hit New Zealand, Prime Minister Chris Hipkins said. Hipkins could not yet say how the scale of the latest destruction compared to Cyclone Bola. “Certainly, the reports that we’ve had is that it’s the most extreme weather event that we’ve experienced in a very long time,” Hipkins told reporters in Wellington. “In the fullness of time, we’ll know how it compares with Cyclone Bola."

Hipkins said UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak had phoned offering the UK's support and assistance.

The Australian government also said New Zealand’s neighbour was ready to provide support where and if needed, Hipkins said.

The national state of emergency includes six regions where local emergencies had already been declared.

They are Auckland, as well as the regions of Northland, Tairawhiti, Bay of Plenty, Waikato and Hawke’s Bay.

The national emergency declaration enables the government to support affected regions and provide additional resources, the government said.

A weather station in the Hawke’s Bay and Napier region recorded three times more rain overnight than usually falls for the entire month of February, MetService meteorologist Lewis Ferris said. “It’s going to be wet, sodden devastation around there,” Ferris said. “We’ve seen the worst of the storm now. We’ve just got to get through today.” Hipkins said the military was already on the ground on the hardest-hit northern reaches of the North Island helping with evacuations and keeping essential supplies moving. “I want to acknowledge the situation New Zealanders have been waking up to this morning,” Hipkins told reporters. “A lot of families displaced. A lot of homes without power. Extensive damage done across the country.” “It will take us a wee while to get a handle on exactly what’s happened and, in due course, helping with the clean-up when we get to that point,” Hipkins added. Much of Auckland ground to a halt on Monday as train services were cancelled, libraries and most schools were closed, and authorities asked people to make only essential trips. Air New Zealand canceled all domestic flights to and from Auckland through Tuesday morning, as well as many international flights. International and domestic flights had resumed on Tuesday afternoon at Auckland Airport, but disruptions and delays were expected for the next few days, Hipkins said.

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