<p>Kiwis were battening down the hatches the morning of Thursday, April 13, as Cyclone Cook approached.</p><p>Weather service MetService said the storm was expected to make landfall in an area between the Coromandel Peninsula to the western Bay of Plenty at around 6 pm on Thursday. It was then forecast to move south over the rest of the North Island by midnight and pass over the Banks Peninsula on the South Island around 6 am.</p><p>The entire North Island was under a Severe Wind Warning, except for Northland which was under a severe wind watch. Metservice meteorologist Lisa Murray predicted</a> wind gusts of 150 km/h or more and heavy downpours.</p><p>New Zealand Civil Defence called it</a> an “extremely serious weather event … Put safety first. Don’t take any chances.”</p><p>This video shows rain falling in a garden in the Tauranga suburb of Otumoetai, in the Bay of Plenty in the North Island.</p><br />
