Northland and Waikato end states of emergency

Northland and Waikato have ended the states of emergency activated on Saturday ahead of Cyclone Vaianu’s arrival.

Declaring a state of emergency grants councils extra powers during a local crisis.

Whakatāne remained under a state of local emergency, but those who were evacuated were allowed to return home if they felt it was safe to do so.

Near the town bridge in Whakatāne, the river rose up over the footpath at the base of the stop bank during Cyclone Vaianu.
Photo: RNZ / Calvin Samuel

States of emergency had also been lifted for Tauranga, Hawke’s Bay and Western Bay of Plenty earlier on Monday.

Vaianu moved away from the mainland after bringing destructive winds, rain and heavy swells on Sunday, causing damage to state highways and cutting power to thousands.

Northland’s civil defence said they were shifting to clean-up.

“There are still some welfare, roading, and clean-up issues to work through in parts of Northland, including issues from previous events that have been exacerbated by this weather,” Northland CDEM group chair Colin Kitchen said.

“While Cyclone Vaianu did not impact Northland as severely as some predictions suggested, and the majority of emergency powers were not required, the declaration meant we were ready to respond quickly and keep people safe if the situation had escalated.”

A large slip on State Highway 2 in Karangahake Gorge between Paeroa and Waihi, during Cyclone Vaianu, on 12 April, 2026.
Photo: RNZ/ Nick Monro

Kitchen thanked Northland communities for being prepared and listening to warnings, saying preparation was preferable to reaction “especially when severe weather can change quickly”.

Waikato’s civil defence group says declaring an emergency early helped prepare for the worst.

“Going early gave people the ability to evacuate ahead of time, especially those who live in areas that usually see storm impacts,” Waikato CDEM Group joint committee chair Emma Pike said.

“The cyclone had the potential to be seriously impactful. If people hadn’t prepared, stayed in place and heeded the warnings, the outcome may have looked really different,” said Pike, who is also a councillor.

Meanwhile, almost 2000 households remained without power on Monday night.

More than 1500 of those were in eastern Bay of Plenty, between Pikowai and Toatoa.

The remaining were on Coromandel Peninsula, Western Bay of Plenty and Gisborne.

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