Wellington - Searchers were looking Sunday for a man feared drowned after taking to the sea in an outrigger canoe as one of the worst storms to hit New Zealand in a decade blasted the North Island.

The 33-year-old man fell from his canoe in 7-metre sea swells as winds gusting to 165 kilometres an hour lashed the island on Saturday, toppling power lines leaving 
60,000 homes without electricity and blocking highways with landslides and floodwaters.

About 10,000 skiers were evacuated from Mount Ruapheu, at 2,797- metres the island's biggest mountain, as winds reportedly reaching 200 kilometres an hour strafed the slopes.

The MetService, which had warned the country to prepare for "No ordinary storm," said the deep low pressure system that produced it should move away to the east on Sunday and gale force winds would ease though torrential rains were still forecast for parts of the island. (dpa)