Wellington, Feb 13 : New Zealand declared a state of emergency on Monday as Cyclone Gabrielle started to lash the North Island.

People in several regions such as Northland and Auckland, the country's largest city, have been warned of high risk of tidal flooding by the civil defense department. Thousands of people are cut off power in the North Island, Xinhua reported.

According to forecast, 400 millimeters of rain and wind gusts of 130 km/hour are expected over the next 20 hours.

The national carrier Air NZ cancelled all domestic flights in and out of Auckland on Sunday, and many international flights are also cancelled.

Most schools and childcare centres in the region have closed, and 26 emergency shelters and civil defense centers have been set up across Auckland, according to the civil defense department.

Auckland and many other places in the region were upgraded to red alert on Sunday as MetService, the national meteorological service of the country, warned that the worst weather is yet to come.