Damage caused by wild weather has already reached $93m for 2018

Insurance companies have paid out more than $93 million to New Zealanders with property damaged by wild weather this year.

The damage was caused by three major storms in the first three months of the year - the January storms, Cyclone Fehi and ex-Tropical Cyclone Gita.

The $93.5m injected back into the storm-ravaged communities was integral to helping them rebuild and repair their homes, Insurance Council of New Zealand chief executive Tim Grafton says.

"(Without insurers), severe weather events and other natural disasters would cripple our communities," he said.

Provisional data shows ex-Tropical Cyclone Gita has cost insurers just over $28.3m from almost 4,000 claims.

Two-thirds of those claims were for damage to homes and their contents.

The January storms and Cyclone Fehi cost $26.7m and $38.5m respectively.

These figures arrive as wild weather again makes its way across the country, with two tornadoes earlier today ripping through National Park Village and the Taranaki town of Rahotu, tearing up trees and lifting roofs.

MetService says 4500 lightning strikes lit up the Taranaki sky within an hour this morning as the storms knocked out power to more than 12,000 customers in the district.

Severe wind gusts up to 110km/h have been forecast to continue in the area into this afternoon as the front moves north and east to hit most of the country.

Meanwhile, snow is falling in the South Island and gusty winds, heavy rain and thunderstorms are hitting the North Island - and meteorologists have warned the worst is yet to come.