Cyclone Gabrielle, headed for New Zealand, brought destructive winds to Australia’s Norfolk Island on Saturday as it closed in on the tiny external territory in the Pacific Ocean.
Cyclone Gabrielle is a Category 2 tropical cyclone with winds of up to 155kmh.
It is 195km north-west of Norfolk Island, where conditions are deteriorating, Australia’s weather bureau said on Saturday afternoon.
Norfolk Island covers just over 34 sq km in the Pacific Ocean, between New Caledonia and New Zealand.
Its roughly 2,000 residents have been fuelling up emergency power generators and tying down outdoor equipment and objects ahead of the cyclone’s arrival.
The island’s emergency management authority issued an alert on Saturday afternoon, saying most businesses would close.
“We are expecting power outages, trees coming down, the potential for houses to lose roofs,” Norfolk Island administrator Eric Hutchinson told national broadcaster ABC.
“We’ve had a couple of days to prepare, so we’ll deal with the recovery as needed,” he said.