More than 1600 calls made to Fire and Emergency overnight

Fire and Emergency New Zealand has been flooded with 111 calls after strong winds and extreme weather lashed the country.

Between 6pm last night and 9am this morning, the emergency service received a total of 1611 calls from throughout the country.

1257 of those calls, or 78 per cent, were callouts in Auckland alone.

Most of the calls were due the strong winds hitting the region, toppling trees, power lines and ripping roofs from houses.

Its Northern Communication Centre received the most calls between 9pm and 10pm, with more than 560 calls reported in that time.

The 111 line spiked again between 7am and 8am this morning, as many people woke up to see and report damage outside their homes or in their neighbourhoods.

Fire and Emergency's national manager for communication centres, Gavin Travers, says the sheer volume of calls coming through the centre was startling.

He says staff had been working hard to handle calls as fast as possible, but there are still hundreds of calls coming through.

ENDS

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