New Zealand's North Island will have to recover from long-term damages after very strong winds brought by ill weather battered the region this weekend.

The foul weather fell trees and knocked down power lines, cutting power to tens of thousands of people.

Powerco, the country's second largest electricity and gas distribution utility, will have to rebuild sections of its power network as 600 overhead lines were brought down and a large number of poles were damaged in South Taranaki and Whanganui, according to the New Zealand Herald.

The Herald further reported the small Taranaki town of Patea was the center of Sunday's ferocious storm.

Resident Barbara Prentice told the Herald she was heavily weeping over the weekend but she was able to pull herself together.

"We thought it was an earthquake," said Barbara's daughter Alison Mudgway. The storm ripped off the family home's roof, and woke up her deaf father at the height of its violent streak.

Ms. Mudgway said Patea looked like "a war zone" after the storm.

Another resident interviewed by the Herald, Nicki Bougen, said it was the worst storm she had experienced in 52 years.

Taranaki Civil Defence's Craig Stevenson said volunteers were checking that residents were safe and kept informed of the latest weather updates and local government announcements.

The local government had set up a welfare centre at the Patea Old Folks Hall as emergency accommodation for those who have lost their roofs due to the violent storm.