The National Emergency Management Agency National Co-ordination Centre has been activated in Wellington to support the response to the severe weather and fire events affecting parts of New Zealand.
The co-ordination centre is activated when a national-level, all-of-governent response is required.
It comes as the Emergency Management Minister Mark Mitchell declared a state of local emergency for the Canterbury region.
He signed the declaration in response to the severe weather forecast because Canterbury's mayors are yet to be sworn in.
The state of local emergency will ensure local Civil Defence have access to the emergency powers needed to respond and support emergency services.
Fire crews are trying to get a handful of large fires put out in Kaikōura before wind that's been hitting large parts of the country pick up again.
Wind warnings for central and southern parts of the country for Thursday have been upgraded to "red" level.
Multiple fires fanned by fierce winds destroyed 14 buildings on Tuesday, including five homes. Meanwhile, many other households may have to spend another night without power.
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