New Zealand issued its third state of emergency in recorded history in response to the Cyclone Gabrielle.

The national declaration became effective Tuesday morning after being signed by Emergency Management Minister Kieran McAnulty.

It will streamline the government's response to the disaster and apply to the Northland, Auckland, Tairawhiti, Bay of Plenty, Waikato, and Hawkes Bay regions.

On Tuesday morning, there were at least 38,000 homes without electricity.

Authorities in Auckland, the largest city in New Zealand, had earlier ordered the evacuation of 50 homes near a 30 m-tall tower that was in danger of collapsing, according to local media. There are also dozens of evacuation centers set up in the city.

"An unprecedented weather event," according to McAnulty, was the storm.

He claimed that declaring a state of emergency would enable federal coordination of the cleanup effort and would give those who are affected access to more resources. Additionally, it gives the government more authority to take action in dangerous circumstances, such as limiting travel.

On Monday, New Zealand's Prime Minister Chris Hipkins unveiled an $11.5 million (£6 million; $7.3 million) aid package.

Just a few weeks after Auckland and its surrounding areas experienced record rainfall and flooding that resulted in the deaths of four people, Cyclone Gabrielle is now affecting New Zealand's north.

At the beach community of Muriwai on Auckland's west coast, a landslide has left one firefighter missing and another seriously hurt.

Due to the hazardous conditions, the search for the second firefighter had to be suspended.

Metservice, New Zealand's meteorological agency, reported that between 100 and 260mm of rain fell in the Hawke Bay area over the previous 24 hours.

On Wednesday, Metservice predicted that as the cyclone moved southeast, it would continue to bring severe weather to New Zealand's north and center.

Additionally, much of the north island was under "red" weather warnings, which indicate significant flooding and widespread wind damage.

At least 509 flights were canceled, which caused some 10,000 international Air New Zealand customers to be inconvenienced.

International and domestic flights were expected to resume on Tuesday morning, according to the Auckland airport, but that could change if the weather got worse.