Severe gusts hitting velocities of as high as 155km/h (96mph) have resulted in around 90,000 homes experiencing outages and compelled authorities to call off in excess of 100 aircraft departures, according to regional news sources.
These gusts are influencing the whole southern region and southern parts of the northern region, according to the national weather agency.
Officials in New Zealand have released infrequent red wind warnings - the highest alert level - in central regions including Wellington and Canterbury.
People have been urged to avoid going outside, avoid travel, and make arrangements for further power and communication outages.
Widespread Destruction and Crisis Measures
The electricity loss seems to be impacting homes mostly in the South Island, though agencies say that the electricity supply was being slowly brought back.
Regional news have indicated that in certain areas homes have lost their roofs, whereas trees and electricity poles have been brought down by the gales.
Across Wellington, a person was fatally injured after being struck by a tree branch at a frequent walking route on earlier this week.
Meanwhile in Wellington, a individual was pushed toward approaching vehicles on a street by a strong gust of wind, in a moment that was captured in a widely shared car camera footage.
Aircraft services entering and leaving the city have been cancelled as a result of the winds, while some roads and libraries are not operating.
At the same time local leaders have announced a emergency situation, to assist disaster response efforts.
Labor Protests Amid Harsh Conditions
The powerful gales on this day occur while numerous of school staff, physicians and civil servants are engaged in what has been called a "major walkout", calling for better pay and working conditions.
However the extreme weather has pressured them to alter various scheduled activities, with several external protests relocated inside or abandoned.
Like conditions are affecting the nearby nation, ushering in a heatwave to the country's outback.
Agencies have declared fire bans for apprehension regarding wildfires.
