Officials say they may need to do welfare checks on people in the worst hit areas, should Cyclone Gabrielle hit hard.
Tairawhiti Civil Defence Controller Ben Green told Kate Hawkesby there could be further damage.
“We know enough to guess the different forecast models and they certainly correlate around the fact you’re going to see landfall and impact and it just comes down to varying degrees of impact.”
LISTEN ABOVE

Brad Olsen: Infometrics Principal Economist on how an uncertain global bond market could impact New Zealand
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Full Show Podcast: 15 September 2026
34:29