New Zealand is being smashed by a once-in-a-century cyclone. Here’s why

Ex-cyclone Gabrielle’s “extreme, impactful, and unprecedented weather” is causing panic, fear, and danger in New Zealand’s North Island after record-hot ocean temperatures created an atmospheric pressure cooker.

Some 50,000 homes and properties were plunged into darkness overnight as the storm, described as the most serious to hit New Zealand in a century, pelted down up to 400mm of rain and blew winds at up to 160km/hour.

The torrid centre of Gabrielle, now downgraded to a sub-tropical low-pressure system, is forecast to close in on the North Island during the next 36 hours, just weeks after Auckland emerged from its wettest month in over 170 years.

Four people were killed in landslides and flash floods after residents in the country’s most populous city were caught off-guard by an entire summer’s worth of rain pummelling down in one day on January 27 — some 240mm worth.