Power outages, evacuations and road closures - from the Far North to the Bay of Plenty - and Cyclone Gabrielle still has more wind and rain.
MetService says the storm is just halfway through, and the next 24 to 36 hours are critical, with high winds and more rain incoming.
There's already been evacuations in Whangārei, Ōpōtiki and parts of Tairāwhiti, where state highway 35 is closng from 7pm.
Gabrielle has shut down ferries and trains in Auckland; Air New Zealand's cancelled almost all international and domestic flights to and from the city.
Tens of thousand of people are still without power in Auckland, Coromandel and Northland. It could stay that way for days. That's forced some dairy farmers to dump milk. Northland, Federated Farmers President and dairy chair Colin Hannah talks to Lisa Owen.
