AUCKLAND — Cyclone Gabrielle began hitting New Zealand’s Northland region on Sunday, with high winds and rain causing some roads to be closed and thousands of homes to lose power.

Gabrielle is forecast to envelop the upper half of the North Island over a 48-hour period from Sunday evening, two weeks after parts of the same region experienced devastating flooding.

The MetService weather bureau measured wind gusts of up to 140 kilometers per hour in northern New Zealand on Sunday morning.

Two weeks ago, Aucklanders experienced the wettest day ever recorded in the city, as the amount of rain that would typically fall over the entire summer hit in a single day.

Quickly rising floodwaters killed four people, caused widespread disruption and left hundreds of homes unlivable. — Euronews