The effects of Cyclone Gabrielle have already been widely felt, with more yet to come as the storm continues its path down the North Island later today and through tomorrow.

Tauranga City Council has activated its Emergency Operations Centre on Sunday due to heavy rain and strong wind warnings for the Bay of Plenty, and is actively monitoring the situation.

"Our staff and contractors are keeping a watchful eye on the situation and are ready to respond to any issue," says a council spokesperson.

The heavy rain and strong wind warnings are for the period from 9am Monday February 13 to 3pm,Tuesday February 14, because of Cyclone Gabrielle.

"If you live in low-lying areas prone to flooding, including the coast and harbourside, please take steps to protect yourself and your property as there is a risk of storm surge flooding and erosion."

Council staff are advising residents to be prepared to self-evacuate to family and friends if needed in the first instance.

"If any evacuation of people is required, please follow all instructions from Bay of Plenty Civil Defence. Emergency shelters will be activated if required, and details will be provided."

More information about how to get ready can be found on council's website: www.tauranga.govt.nz/community/civil-defence

"If you think any of your whānau, friends or neighbours might need help with some this, please get in touch and offer a helping hand."

Other important places to get information:
www.facebook.com/MetService for weather updates
www.facebook.com/BOPCivilDefence for emergency updates
www.facebook.com/NZTAWaikatoBoP for road closures and slips

Stay connected:
Listen to your local radio station
Shout-out to your neighbours on your local Facebook community noticeboard if you need any help.
If you need to report an issue, call Tauranga City Council contact centre 24/7 on 07 577 7000.
If life is in danger, call 111 immediately.

Schools

School boards and principals have been left to make the decision about whether to close on Monday.

Secretary of Education Iona Holsted provided written support to school boards, kura and early learning centres if they considered it was not safe for on-site teaching and learning and did decide to close.

Thames and Coromandel peninsula

Defence forces staff and water rescue craft have been brought into to parts of Thames-Coromandel which is expecting the storm will impact 'on a similar level to Bola”.

Thousands of properties across Thames and Coromandel had power outages on Sunday night.

Red and orange rain warnings

Red heavy rain warnings have been issued for Northland, Auckland, Tairāwhiti Gisborne north of Tolaga Bay, and Coromandel through until Tuesday. . The worst affected areas can expect 350-450mm of rain.

Orange rain warnings are also in place for Bay of Plenty, the rest of the east coast of the North Island, parts of the Marlborough including Kaikōura.

Northland declares state of emergency

Northland bore the brunt of the approaching storm on Sunday, with a state of emergency declared as Cape Reinga recorded 140km per hour winds and Kaitaia 90km per hour gusts. In Auckland, winds of up to 130km per hour were recorded at Whangaparāoa and in the Coromandel, Colville Channel recorded 148km per hour winds.

A red rain warning covers the region until midnight on Monday, with up to 200-300mm of rain expected over the region.

On Monday, MetService has the whole of the North Island on a severe weather warning for strong winds, with many centres under red and orange heavy rain warnings.

Head of Weather Communications Lisa Murray says extreme rain and wind were expected for many North Island regions. This would be accompanied by 'phenomenal seas” along northern and eastern shores, and significant storm surge near, and slightly in advance of, the cyclone's centre.

'While the system has been ‘downgraded' from a tropical cyclone, this does not mean it has weakened in terms of impacts to New Zealand,” she says. 'In fact, it is intensifying and spreading the strong wind and heavy rain across a wider area affecting the whole of the North Island in some way.”

More than 15,000 households were without power as Cyclone Gabrielle tracks towards New Zealand.

Prime Minister Chris Hipkins visited the Waka Kotahi Auckland Transport Operations Centre on Sunday. He called for people to take the severe weather warnings seriously, follow local guidance, and said that lessons had been learnt from January's Auckland floods.

The Government was ready for anything that Cyclone Gabrielle could bring, he said.

'Central and local government have been working very closely together to prepare for this event, and also to make sure that the early lessons that can be captured from our response of a week or two back can be incorporated into the planning for this one,” says Hipkins.

Strong winds are expected to hit parts of Northland, Coromandel and Auckland including Great Barrier Island, the hardest with wind speeds of between 120-140km per hour.

On Sunday, strong winds also caused power outages to thousands across Northland, Waiheke Island, and Whangaparāoa. By 7pm on Sunday night, Vector was reporting 15,000 Auckland properties were without power.

In Northland, over 13,000 properties were without power by Sunday evening and Northpower has warned residents that it may not be restored for several days, with severe winds making it impossible for contractors to safely repair the lines.

The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has also published advice for affected residents, telling them to eat food in the fridge first if the power goes out and to keep a supply of cash in case eftpos and ATM machines go down.

The Auckland Bridge was closed due to severe wind gusts and several flights in and out of Auckland were cancelled.

Kiwirail also cancelled all commuter rail services around Auckland from 8pm Sunday night until 3pm Monday afternoon at the latest to ensure the safety of staff and passengers.

Due to the late notice, rail replacement buses were unable to be organised, with commuters having to rely on regular scheduled buses.

Rail lines were also closed north of Marton until Monday 3pm, grinding all freight and passenger rail to a halt, including the Northern Explorer and the Te Huia service between Hamilton and Auckland.

Ferries around the Hauraki Gulf were cancelled too, including the Waiheke Island, Half Moon Bay, and Gulf Harbour services. Services such as Devonport, Birkenhead, and Bayswater were still running but under close observation.

Flights

Long-haul international departures from Auckland along with five long-haul international arrivals have been cancelled today – New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Singapore arrivals are still operating.

All turboprop flights to, from or through Auckland, Hamilton, Tauranga and Taupo through to midday on Tuesday are cancelled, with Air New Zealand's chief executive warning further cancellations were possible.

Waves of close to 11 metres were recorded near the Bay of Islands on Sunday with swells of up to 7 metres possible through to Tuesday morning.

North Islanders spent much of the weekend doing what they could to prepare ahead of the storm, including clearing gutters and drains and clearing away loose objects.

Aucklanders prepare for Cyclone Gabrielle, filling sandbags on Sunday before the worst of the storm hits. Photo: Ricky Wilson/Stuff.

Auckland Emergency Management has released a list of 24 shelters and civil defence centres where people can go in an emergency.