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Raging squalls shook houses and cut power to thousands yesterday in what forecasters called a "lull" in the storm ravaging the country since Friday.
The severe weather was expected to intensify again overnight, bringing gales to the lower North Island and heavy snow in Southland and the central North Island.
Whangamata, in the Coromandel, was yesterday hit by powerful wind gusts.
Electricity was knocked out to thousands of homes in the area for much of the day when a 33,000-volt power line supplying the area faulted.
Whangamata community board member Jack Wells said the gales were huge, as if they had blasted through a wind tunnel.
"It's bloody scary. The whole house shakes in squalls that last about 30 seconds. I've got a stack of ripped off branches on the back lawn. It's dynamite here," Mr Wells said.
He would not risk leaving his house because of the debris flying around, he said.
"I like living too much. It would be too dangerous to be walking anywhere with the trees and power lines coming down."
MetService recorded gusts up to 130km/h on ranges near the town.
Powerco said 12,000 houses lost power yesterday, including 5000 in Whangamata.
Areas of Manawatu, Wanganui, Taranaki, Wairarapa and the Western Bay of Plenty were also affected.
Most faults had been repaired by last night.
A Vector spokeswoman said about 1250 houses lost power briefly in rural north Auckland when trees hit power lines in Puhoi and Dairy Flat.
About 250 houses on the North Shore also needed repairs to their hot water systems.
MetService weather ambassador Bob McDavitt said that yesterday had been a lull in the storm, with the "next furore" arriving today.
Weatherwatch analyst Philip Duncan said winds would intensify in Southland, Otago, Canterbury, Marlborough, Wellington, Wairarapa and Hawkes Bay.
Gale-force southwesterlies in Southland would bring more sleet, hail and snow flurries to low levels, he said.
A 47-year-old man remained in a serious but stable condition in Southland Hospital yesterday after being hit by a falling 5m tree on Monday.
The man was working on a farm in Longbush, near Invercargill, when he became trapped under the tree, calling emergency services on his cellphone.
St John said ambulances had trouble reaching him in deep snow, but paramedics got through to stabilise him before taking him to hospital with moderate to serious injuries.
The Fire Service in Invercargill said it had been flat out working three pumps to drain properties around the city swamped by melting snow.
In the lower North Island, a coastal village has become encircled by floodwaters, cutting off road access.
Scotts Ferry, near Bulls, just fought off flooding rivers thanks to recently upgraded stopbanks.
But pumps worked full-time to drain the low-lying village, as the stopbanks keeping the rivers out also trapped surface flooding within.
Resident John Ransom said the community had confidence in the stopbanks - "but we're not out of the woods yet".
Road access to the area was cut, though residents could get in and out via a forestry road.
Nearby sharemilker Bridget Clark's farm was under water up to 1m deep.
She was pumping water away from a transformer, afraid that if the farm lost electricity milking would be disrupted.
"It's frustrating. We probably have it the worst here," Ms Clark said.
Further north, Ruapehu District Council road transport team leader Warren Furner estimated that it would cost $1 million to fix its damaged roads.
There had been 19 large slips on district roads since Friday.
The district's ski fields have also taken a hammering, and Turoa's new six-seater chairlift has been damaged.
Mt Ruapehu spokesman Mike Smith said winds had been too strong to assess how long repairs would take, but the ski fields were expected to reopen this weekend, in time for a "bikini downhill" breast cancer fundraiser.
And snow quality is expected to be the best of the season, a situation mirrored in South Island ski fields.
FALLOUT
*More than 13,000 houses lost power, including 1250 in the Auckland region.
*Gusts of 130km/h rocked Whangamata, knocking out power across town for most of the day.
*Ruapehu has estimated its road damage alone will cost $1 million to fix, after 19 major slips since Friday.
*A Southland man is in a serious condition in hospital after being hit by a falling tree.
*A coastal village in Manawatu - Scotts Ferry - has been ringed by floodwaters, cutting off road access.
