About 17,500 households in Hamilton have had their power cut this afternoon as the city is battered by bad weather.
Supplier WEL Networks says the storm is causing “widespread damage” across its network.
Falling trees have caused many of the 27 unplanned outages and crews are trying to restore power as quickly as possible.
“However, the squalls of stormy weather and lightning do mean that our crews need to remain safe and pause work as necessary,” general manager WEL services George Pirie says.
RNZ is New Zealand’s statutory civil defence lifeline radio broadcaster, providing vital information and updates as they come to hand.
You can find our radio frequencies here.
The National Emergency Management Agency advises that in times of crisis or civil defence emergency a battery powered radio or a car radio remain essential lifelines if power is out and other forms of communication are unavailable.
Follow RNZ’s liveblog for all weather-related updates:
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