Severe gusts reaching speeds of up to 155km/h (96mph) have left nearly 90,000 households without power and forced agencies to cancel over 100 aircraft departures, according to regional news sources.
The gales are influencing the complete South Island and southern parts of the North Island, per the country's meteorological service.
Officials in New Zealand have released rare high-level wind alerts - the most severe warning - in key areas such as Wellington and Canterbury.
People have been advised to stay indoors, refrain from journeys, and get ready for further power and communication outages.
Extensive Damage and Crisis Measures
This outage appears to be affecting households mostly in the South Island, while officials report that power was being slowly brought back.
Local media have reported that in some places homes have lost their roofs, while trees and electricity poles have been knocked down by the gusts.
Across Wellington, a person was lost his life after being impacted by a tree branch at a frequent walking route on earlier this week.
Meanwhile in Wellington, a woman was blown onto oncoming traffic on a thoroughfare by a strong gust of wind, in a incident that was recorded in a widely shared car camera footage.
Air travel in and out of the city have been suspended due to the weather, while some roads and libraries are shut down.
Meanwhile Canterbury officials have declared a emergency situation, to support disaster response efforts.
Strike Action During Severe Conditions
The powerful gales on today occur while tens of thousands of school staff, physicians and civil servants are participating in what has been called a "major walkout", calling for better pay and working conditions.
However the severe conditions has forced them to alter certain arrangements, with several external protests moved indoors or abandoned.
Like conditions are also sweeping Australia, bringing a high-temperature event to the country's outback.
Authorities have announced flame prohibitions for apprehension regarding wildfires.
