Perhaps the ‘strongest storm of the century’ is approaching New Zealand

Residents of Auckland, New Zealand’s largest city, must prepare for another very bad weather. Meteorologists speak of “the strongest storm of this century”, writes the Reuters news agency.

The new storm is caused by Hurricane Gabrielle. The system is expected to move towards the North Island in the coming days. According to the National Weather Office, Gabrielle brings heavy rain, strong winds and high seas. The system is expected to reach the North Island over the weekend and Gabrielle could pass directly over Auckland on Monday. The system is classified in category 3 of the Saffir-Simpson scale. This means that wind speeds of up to 200 kilometers per hour can occur.

“If this current pattern is correct, this could be New Zealand’s worst storm this century, especially since Auckland could be directly affected,” said weather agency WeatherWatch. Although the city has not been flooded recently, conditions are still very threatening.

Two weeks ago Auckland was hit with a historically high amount of rain. Flooding from the storm killed four people. Repair costs run into the hundreds of millions of New Zealand dollars.