“There’s our deck going down”: Mother nature devastates West Auckland club’s home.

My husband looked back and saw the house slide off the hillside.

A brawl has broken out at a Kathmandu clothing store in Sydney after a woman allegedly stole a wig.

9News understands the outdoor store's manager saw one of the women allegedly stealing the wig from the shop inside the Westfield Parramatta Shopping Centre about 5.30pm on Monday.

It's believed the brawl broke out after she was told to put the item back.

READ MORE: Sydney boy dies by electrocution at Fiji resort

NSW Police said they attended the scene after reports two women attempted to steal an item from within the store.

"When two shopkeepers tried to intervene, a scuffle ensued, and two shopkeepers were assaulted," NSW Police said in a statement.

Police allege the 19-year-old and 22-year-old women walked away from the store but then returned and were arrested.

READ MORE: Flights grounded as violent cyclone whips up chaos

"One of the shopkeepers suffered minor injuries, however did not require treatment."

No charges have been laid, and investigations are continuing.

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Chris Hipkins labels storm ‘worst this century’

Urgent evacuation urged for Napier street.

One school will remain closed on Wednesday due to tree damage.

The car was lucky to drive out of it before the tree fell, says witness.

Mayor Andrew Tripe and WDC emergency manager Tim Crowe discuss civil defence.

The damage wrought by Cyclone Gabrielle is the worst New Zealanders have seen in a generation, according to the country's prime minister.

"Cyclone Gabrielle is the most significant weather event New Zealand has seen in this century," Chris Hipkins said in a press conference on Tuesday afternoon.

"The severity and the damage that we are seeing has not been experienced in a generation."

READ MORE: Ute plummets into hole at 70km/h after road washed away in Cyclone Gabrielle

As of Tuesday afternoon, around 2500 people have been displaced by the storm, although Hipkins said conditions are expected to ease overnight and on Wednesday.

"The centre of the cyclone is just north of the East Cape. It's moving in a south-easterly direction away from the country," Hipkins said.

Hipkins' address came after a national state of emergency was declared in New Zealand by Emergency Management Minister Kieran McAnulty, just the third time a NZ government has declared a national state of emergency.

READ MORE: Boy dies in suspected electrocution at Fiji resort

The previous declarations came for the Christchurch earthquakes and COVID-19 pandemic.

McAnulty hosted a press conference at the Beehive, NZ's parliament building, on Tuesday morning.

He said the declaration would apply to the six regions that had declared a local state of emergency: Northland, Auckland, Tairāwhiti, Bay of Plenty, Waikato, and Hawke's Bay.

https://twitter.com/WeatherWatchNZ/status/1625184700322177025?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

"The local leadership, CDEM groups, and emergency responders in all of the affected areas have been doing an outstanding job, but the widespread damage caused by this cyclone means we need a national declaration to support them," he said.

"A National State of Emergency gives the National Controller legal authority to apply resources across the country in support of a national level response."

Monday night saw widespread damage across the North Island as Cyclone Gabrielle moved closer.

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A landslide trapped two firefighters overnight in Muriwai, West Auckland, one was rescued and was in a critical condition in hospital this morning, while another remained unaccounted for.

The East Coast and Gisborne were cut off entirely.

Power, road, rail, cellphone and Internet connections were cut to Gisborne, hampering emergency responses in the east coast city.

In Hawke's Bay, Napier Mayor Kirsten Wise reported all of Napier and Hastings were without power today.

Multiple people were also trapped in flooded houses and on cars along State Highway 5, in Eskdale Valley, Hastings, according to the Fire Service.

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Workers stranded in Hawke’s Bay