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Searchers have found the body of a canoeist who disappeared while paddling in stormy seas off Mt Maunganui.
The North Island was yesterday hit by the worst storm in a decade, with winds gusting to hurricane force. The winds downed powerlines and trees, while heavy rain caused flooding - closing roads.
Rotorua rafting guide James Moore, 33, was one of four people who set off on their outrigger canoes from Maketu about 1.30pm yesterday to paddle to Pilot Bay in Tauranga Harbour.
Senior Sergeant Carl Purcell said one of the group turned back after cracking a hull while trying to cross the Maketu bar but the others continued.
"About 500m off Leisure Island at the Mt Maunganui main beach one of the paddlers got into difficulty and fell off his canoe and was reported missing," Mr Purcell said.
Searchers were hampered by extreme conditions, including six to seven metre swells and high winds. Mr Moore's body was found about 11.30am today.
Two other people died after the fishing boat they were on ran aground east of Opotiki.
Power cuts
The weather bomb left a trail of destruction across the North Island, cutting power to more than 60,000 homes.
Northland was hardest hit, with winds of up to 167km/h bringing down trees and power lines, and heavy rain flooding roads.
The MetService today dropped its severe weather warning for the region but thousands of homes there remain without electricity.
About 3,500 homes in the Rodney District, Waiheke Island, North Shore and west Auckland are still reported to be without power after cuts last night affected some 53,000 properties.
Power company Vector said strong winds were hampering linesmen and warned some could experience "prolonged outages".
"Vector are using helicopters (this) morning to get an accurate assessment of the extent of the damage, but reports coming in from the field suggest that falling trees, high winds, and heavy rain have impacted the network significantly," a spokesperson said.
Some homes may be without power for a couple of days.
Power was also cut to about PowerCo 30,000 customers from north of Thames to Patea, in Taranaki, but many were reconnected by last night.
The storm ripped boats from their moorings and forced the evacuation of up to 10,000 skiers from Mt Ruapehu as 200km/h winds lashed the slopes.
In Auckland and Waikato, emergency services were stretched to breaking point with the Fire Service fielding 1200 weather-related calls by early evening.
Roads
All state highways in Northland have reopened, but Transit warned motorists to take care because of debris and flooding.
There is flooding on SH10 at Kaeo, SH1 south of Kaitaia and SH12 west of Kaikohe.
Transit's Northern Operations Manager, Joseph Flanagan, said numerous potholes had opened up, making driving conditions difficult.
Road crews would continue to remove debris and repair road slips over the next few days, he said.
Today's forecast
MetService forecast the deep low that brought the storm should move away to the east today with gale force winds expected to ease during the day.
Further periods of heavy rain were likely over the higher parts of Gisborne and Hawke's Bay until tonight and people in these areas should be on the look out for rapidly rising rivers and streams.
Radio Network weather analyst Philip Duncan yesterday warned the fast-moving storm was "as serious as they get" and posed "a high risk to life and property".
He said the air pressure predicted in the depression was "unbelievably low" and mimicked modest hurricanes that hit America.
The MetService described the "destructive" sub-tropical storm as "extremely rare and nasty".
"It is one of the largest and deepest lows we've seen for some years," said spokesman Peter Kreft.
Northland
Civil Defence evacuated the Whangarei CBD as concern mounted about surface flooding combining with the high tide.
"We watched the water rise right before our eyes," Whangarei resident Ruth Andrews told the Herald on Sunday.
Up to 35 people were evacuated from the Hokianga township of Panguru as a river burst its banks on the northern side of the harbour. One witness reported water rising as high as a letterbox.
Two people were injured when their campervan was blown into a paddock beside State Highway 1 near Wellsford, with one trapped for several hours.
Another two people were taken to North Shore Hospital with injuries including broken legs.
Auckland region
As the storm moved south, it took out power to 53,000 homes in parts of north and West Auckland.
Across the harbour bridge, a further 7000 were without power in Howick, Otara, Clevedon, Mangere and parts of Waiheke Island.
The SkyTower was closed because the spire was swaying too much and Transit shut Tamaki Drive on Auckland's waterfront as waves spilled across the road.
Motorists were advised to avoid the Auckland Harbour Bridge, which had a 60km/h speed limit because cars were being hit by seaspray.
The weather caused bridge traffic to slow to a crawl and university student Esther Stewart said it took 25 minutes to cross the 2km span, with gusts clocked at up to 135km/h "pushing" cars around.
Dozens of people braved the weather to take photographs of the huge seas, as more than 35 vessels broke their moorings off Auckland, and a dolphin was stranded at Castor Bay beach. Debris, including roofing iron, roadwork barriers and road signs, fallen trees and power lines were blown on to roads.
Fullers Ferries cancelled all services bar essential trips to Waiheke Island, and Auckland Airport cancelled flights to Whangarei, Kaitaia, the Bay of Islands, Gisborne, Palmerston North and New Plymouth.
Coromandel
A warning went out last night to residents of the Coromandel Peninsula and Hauraki Plains to avoid travelling unless necessary.
State Highway 25 south of Thames was closed, as the Kauaeranga River in the Coromandel broke its banks and flooded the highway, and State Highway 2 at Waikino was blocked by fallen trees.
Further south, the Desert Rd was closed by snow and up to 10,000 skiers were evacuated from the slopes of Mt Ruapehu as the storm hit the mountain mid-morning.
Police warned motorists stuck at Whakapapa skifield to stay inside their vehicles and wait for staff to assist them, taking just five vehicles off the mountain at a time.
Up to 200mm of rain was forecast for the Coromandel and Bay of Plenty in the 24 hours to noon today, with slightly less expected to fall north of Auckland. Nearly 100mm of rain was expected in Hawke's Bay.
The MetService warned the rain was likely to cause heavy flooding and more slips as streams and rivers rose quickly, particularly around coastal roads. The eye of the storm moved over Auckland at around midnight last night. It headed south over the Coromandel Peninsula and was predicted to settle off the East Cape at noon. Duncan predicted it would blow over by tonight but warned a second front would slam the west coast later this week.
