Northland police have named the man believed to have been swept away by a swollen stream in the Bay of Islands.
Kerry Michael Witt, 40, and his partner Lavona Cherrington, 49, were trying to cross a ford to get to their house in Waikare Valley Rd, between Kawakawa and Russell.
Northland rescue staff are hoping improved weather will help them find Mr Witt's body, after Ms Cherrington's body was found yesterday about 11am, 1.5km downstream in the storm-swollen river.
Police said the initial post mortem examination showed she died from drowning. Northland police spokeswoman Sarah Kennett said about 13 staff headed out this morning for land-based searches to find the man.
"The river levels have dropped and the weather has improved," Ms Kennett told NZPA.
"We believe there may be more bad weather coming in a few days so we are trying to take advantage of this break in the weather."
Searchers would spend much of their time focusing on tributaries off the river, Ms Kennett said.
The couple's cars were parked on the opposite side of the river from their home, something neighbours said locals often did when they expected the river to rise.
"We're all in shock actually. When it rains, you take your car across the river. Otherwise, you won't get out," one neighbour told the New Zealand Herald.
"So you park it up on the road and when you want to go out, you go across the river and you go to town."
About eight families lived across the river, known by locals as the Waikare Creek.
Another resident, who did not wish to be named, told the Herald the woman's body was found in the river in trees and other flood debris by her neighbours, who were out trying to see if the river could be crossed.
Nearby resident Dean Reti said flooding in the area was common and so bad that his home had been flooded three times since March last year.
The home had been "lifted" 3m higher and put on stilts to prevent further flood damage but he was not sure it would be enough.
