Residents in one of New Zealand’s key apple growing regions have battened down their hatches ahead of a night of wild weather.
After causing wide spread damage in Fiji, Tonga and Samoa last week, ex-tropical cyclone Gita hit New Zealand’s upper South Island this afternoon (20 February,NZDT),prompting airline carrier Air New Zealand to ground all flights into and out of Wellington.
While the cyclone has since been downgraded to a storm, experts suggest it still has the potential to wreak havoc, as it traverses the centre of New Zealand on Tuesday evening.
The apple production hub that surrounds the city of Nelson is in the direct line of the storm. When Asiafruit spoke to one of the region’s growers this morning the brunt of the storm was yet to hit.
“It’s only started raining here heavily over the last hour and there isn’t any wind,” the grower said before noon. “We understand the worst of it will come tonight.”
New Zealand Prime MinisterJacinda Ardernurged residents in affected areas to remain cautious.
'My message still to people is please look out for your local warnings and expect disruption to travel and please just be careful,' she told reporters at parliament.
