Emergency Management Minister, Mark Mitchell, says Cyclone Vaianu could've been much worse - and Kiwis prepared well.

Gisborne and some other East Coast communities are still cut off with sections of State Highways 2 and 35 closed, due to fallen trees, flooding and slips.

The last of MetService's strong wind warnings and watches for Wairarapa and the Tararua District are set to ease at 7 this morning.

Mark Mitchell told Ryan Bridge several thousand houses were evacuated across the North Island.

He says some of them have flooded, but a lot were precautionary evacuations - which was the right thing to do.

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On the Early Edition with Ryan Bridge Full Show Podcast Monday 13th of April 2025, Former CIA Intelligence Officer Glenn Carle shares his thoughts on the US failing to make a peace deal with Iran.

Emergency Management Minister Mark Mitchell tells Ryan whether or not we dodged a bullet with Cyclone Vaianu.

Andrew Alderson has the latest on the weekend's sport.

Plus UK/Europe Correspondent Gavin Grey has the latest on suggestion blockade in the strait of Hormuz may be enforced by allies of the US and Hungary goes to the polls today with the EU secretly hoping the incumbent Prime Minister loses power.

Get the Early Edition Full Show Podcast every weekday on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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The storm for the most of the North Island was a fizzer.

The TV news struggled to find pictures of anything actually happening other than a few trees down and reporters breathlessly doing pieces to camera in the wind.

In Auckland where I live most shops were closed and they didn’t need to be.

There is a risk of the boy who cried wolf.

But I also don’t think need to have an existential national conversation about whether this was over-hyped.

The forecasters do their thing. They tell you what is coming. Or their best guess of what's coming. Then it’s up to us to make our own decisions based on the information, our own experience and personal judgement.

The businesses who decided to close yesterday before anything had actually happened lost a day's trade. The one's who didn't, didn't.

Maybe next time they’ll make a different call. After all, Auckland was only under an orange watch.

The media coverage was over the top. It always is. Remember they make money off events like this. Eyeballs on screens. I noticed before every video on the stuff site yesterday showing ocean lapping at sand dune, there was an ad for Tower Insurance playing.

They do what they do.

But you can’t tell MetService to not to report the weather.

They’re damned if they do and damned if they don’t.

We’re all responsible for our own lives. Ultimately we can decide if we’re safe enough to stay home or go to get a flat white from the local Robert Harris.

And if you want to go out kite-surfing or surfin in their storm, all power to ya. You might die, or you might have an awesome Sunday, wither way it'll be your informed choice to do so.

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The UK wants to know why three Russian submarines have apparently been examining the country's vital underwater cables and pipelines.

British Defence Secretary John Healey says the subs were tracked over several weeks operating in the north Atlantic.

Russia denies the claims.

More than 90% of the UK's day-to-day internet traffic travels via undersea cables.

Europe Correspondent Vincent McAviney told Ryan Bridge there's been no apparent damage; rather, the British Government is putting Russia on notice.

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered officials to hold talks with Lebanon, but rejects any reports of a ceasefire there.

He says Israel's military will continue to strike Hezbollah with force and won't stop until security is restored, but a Lebanese official says it won't negotiate under fire.

Reuters senior Middle East correspondent Alexander Cornwell told Ryan Bridge if the talks between Israel and Lebanon take place, they'll need some kind of guarantor for it to work.

He says they'll probably have to come from outside of the region – like the US or the French.

Meanwhile, Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei says it's allowing the Strait of Hormuz to open but requires vessels to communicate with its military.

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Early childhood centres are lifting their game, with fewer falling below quality standards.

Education Review Office monitoring shows 47% of standalone services didn’t meet the quality threshold, down from 64% a year earlier.

Early Childhood Council Chief Executive Simon Laube says the reviews are just snapshots and even the best centres go through staff changes and have to rebuild quality.

He told Ryan Bridge that the reviews are sensitive, so anything that’s slightly out of place will appear on the review, and pretty much everyone will have something.

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Energy security is shaping up to be the hottest item on this year's election agenda, and with good reason.

Ask any business who's about to renew an energy contract, any transport business who's battling the price of diesel, or any factory or mill thinking about mass layoffs and shutting up shop.

In Hawke's Bay, CEOs are organising an energy summit in June. Their business leaders voted energy as their top concern.

Bombing in the Middle East might be in pause, bar Beirut, but the energy price battle is far from over.

And it’s time for our politicians to put their swords down and agree on a long term energy strategy that addresses the new world we’re living in.

Post ceasefire, oil is still more than 30% more expensive than it was before the war. Gas is 40% higher.

There’s a piece in The Economist, well worth a read, that sets out the problem well.

Infrastructure's been damaged and takes time to repair. When the tankers start moving, the insurance premiums will cost an arm and leg. That’s before ships take the risk of sailing in the opposite direction back into the Gulf again while a shaky ceasefire is in play.

We’ve now all learnt that a few drones and terrorists with speed boats is all it takes to choke supply. Oil will find a way, from other regions, or overland by pipes, but all this takes time and costs money.

I had Chlöe Swarbrick and David Seymour in my show yesterday and they both disagreed with each other on what mix of energy solutions we need to keep trucks, factories, and businesses moving.

But the fact is they both have valid points and all parties should compromise and agree on an energy plan we can all agree on.

Whether that’s LNG, over-building renewables (as Sir Rod Drury argues), more drill baby drill, tanks at Marsden Point, coal for Huntly, or a combination of all of the above, political consensus is the missing ingredient to make ensure NZ Inc can keep the lights on.

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