Rain and wind batter North Island

Wicked winds are whipping the upper North Island this morning, bringing relentless rain to Northland, Coromandel and Te Tairāwhiti.
Orange heavy rain warnings, are in force for those areas, with 29 millimetres of rain falling in the Gisborne Ranges in an hour.
MetService recorded gusts of more than 140-kilometres-per-hour near Cape Reinga Sunday night, and gusts nearing those speeds persisted throughout the night.
Six-thousand houses in Northland are without power.
MetService meteorologist Mmathapelo Makgabutlane spoke to Ingrid Hipkiss.