Cyclone Gabrielle: Flooded New Zealanders swim to safety.

(BBC) ⸻ Cyclone Gabrielle has caused widespread damage in New Zealand, with 225,000 people without power and a firefighter missing. The storm's damage has been most extensive in coastal communities on the far north and east coast of the North Island, with areas Hawke's Bay, Coromandel and Northland among the worst hit. People in the area have been warned they could be without power for weeks, and aerial pictures of flooded regions showed people stranded on rooftops waiting for rescue. New Zealand's Defence Force released dramatic pictures of officials rescuing a stranded sailor, whose yacht was swept out to sea when its anchor cable snapped amid strong winds. In Auckland, more than 100 people had also fled to evacuation centres overnight. New Zealand has declared a national state of emergency due to Cyclone Gabrielle, which has caused unprecedented downpours and flooding in the Northland, Auckland, Tairawhiti, Tararua, Bay of Plenty, Waikato and Hawke's Bay regions. The Minister for Emergency Management, Kieran McAnulty, has pledged NZ$11.5m (£6m; US$7.3m) in aid to support those affected by the disaster. The government has attributed the scale of the disaster to climate change, made worse by the fact that global temperatures have already increased by 1.1 degrees. The MetService says conditions are expected to clear in coming days, and heavy rain warnings are being lifted for some parts of the country. However, wind could still cause further damage.