Watch: Spot the dog - snow dump cuts power, buries kennels

Massive snow dumps in the Central North Island have made access to houses problematic and some farmers had trouble locating their dog kennels, as seen in the video above.

Almost 1000 power customers in Manuwatu and Whanganui in the central North Island remained without electricity this morning because of damaged power lines from last week's storm.

State Highway 38 between Wairoa and Urerewa National Park also remained closed due to recent flooding.

Electricity supplier Powerco estimated it will cost at least $2 million to repair storm damage to its network with operations manager Phil Marsh saying it could take a few more days to restore power to all customers.

"People are saying it's the worst snow storm in that region since 2002," Powerco operations manager Phil Marsh said on Sunday.

"On that occasion our network received massive damage and this is just as bad."

Power was cut to 10,000 homes at the peak of the storm. About 100 poles and kilometres of power lines were brought down in the storm in Powerco's western region in Wairarapa, Manawatu, Whanganui and Taranaki.

SH1 Rangipo to Waiouru (Desert Road) opened on Sunday with most other roads in the central North island re-opening earlier.

The roads, including the Napier- Taupo Road, have snow and ice warnings. The MetService has lifted all severe weather warning but Wellington, the Kapiti Coast and Tararua Range were all expected to receive heavy rain on Monday.