Cyclone Vaianu struck New Zealand's North Island (the country's more populous northern landmass) on Sunday, making landfall near the Maketu peninsula with wind gusts exceeding 130 km/h, heavy rainfall, and wave heights topping six metres. The storm forced the evacuation of hundreds of residents, cut power to around 5,000 homes, prompted emergency declarations across several regions, and led Air New Zealand to cancel more than 90 regional flights. Authorities warned that the most dangerous window remained the afternoon high tide, when large swells raised the risk of coastal inundation, though the cyclone's eastward track spared Auckland — the country's largest city — from the worst conditions before the system was expected to exit via Hawke's Bay by Sunday evening.