© EPA / Nasa
Satellite images taken on Tuesday show the swirling cyclone approaching New Zealand (in outline)
Cyclone Cook is bearing down on New Zealand and is expected to make landfall on Thursday evening, heading directly for the flood-stricken Bay of Plenty region devastated by last week's Cyclone Debbie.
Two states of emergency have been declared in the North Island east coast districts of Bay of Plenty and Thames-Coromandel, with more districts expected to make that call mid-afternoon when the ferocity of the storm becomes clear.
MetService - whose website crashed on Thursday because of heavy traffic -
has warned the approaching storm system is expected to be the worst New Zealand has seen in decades, with forecasters comparing it to 1968's Cyclone Giselle, which sunk the Wahine ferry, killing 52 people.
MetService meteorologist Lisa Murray said she was concerned New Zealanders weren't taking the storm threat seriously enough and the approaching cyclone was the worst weather event she had seen in her 12 years as a forecaster.
