Taking a battering..

from Cyclone Gabrielle.  Very high winds all day but little rain until early evening. We  now have very heavy and the wind has strengthened even more.  We are fine  but Gabrielle has left a trail of destruction, particularly in coastal areas, Auckland and Coromandel with 11metre waves, huge swells and flooding as the storm  moves down the country. NIne regions covering at least half the North Island have declared a State of Emergency.