Gisborne's storm clean-up could cost more than $10 million - District Council

The East Coast has moved into clean-up mode after devastating storms caused havoc over the weekend, with families evacuated and homes destroyed.

The District Council says it could now cost at least $10 million to repair roads and bridges cleaned out by wooden off-cuts from logging operations - and locals want the forestry industry to front up with the cash.

The Mangatokerau River usually flows through Tolaga Bay. On Tuesday it was not full of water, but a sea of wooden off cuts from logging, washed down the river.

The river is only one mess to clean up - and there are many of them, especially for farmers like Mike Parker.

"It was what we'd call a short and violent storm - we had no idea it was coming. Everyone's suffering; the human toll is pretty horrible - that's the biggest problem," he said.

Mr Parker spent the morning helping his son in law clean up his home. On Tuesday, the property was full of mud; on Monday, though, it was filled with water.

There's no doubt this storm will leave a lasting impact on farms.

"There's going to be thousands of sheep gone," Mr Parker said. "It's the staff, owners - you know, we're all in the same boat. We care about our livelihoods and animals."

The weekend's storm has left many homes with a massive repair job. One house where three people were rescued is now a write-off.

Locals Newshub met on Tuesday were helping each other out, but they don't agree on everything.

One thing dividing many people on the East Coast is thousands and thousands of wooden offcuts known as "slash" washing on to people's properties.

Many people are arguing the forestry industry should be picking up the tab for some of the mess.

In a statement, the Forestry Owners Association didn't directly address the concerns of locals, but told Newshub new national forestry rules mean this will now happen less often.

The Gisborne District Council is taking a diplomatic approach.

"[I know you want people] to blame, but we've just got to work through a process to find out what actually happened and then make sure that if there are things that need to be done," a spokesperson said.

"If there are people that need to be held to account that we can deal with it at the right time."

In the meantime, the clean-up is expected to take weeks as farmers and officials try to get things back to normal.

Newshub.