The mop-up in Tairawhiti is still underway today with some residents along the East Coast remaining cut off and isolated.
Anaura Bay, where a marae and cemetery have been partially destroyed, is still proving difficult to reach.
And with other major roads still partially closed Gisborne growers who have been unable to get deliveries out are concerned this will all happen again next time wild weather hits.
Delivering supplies by air is a lifeline for land-locked East Coasters who are still out of reach.
This morning the Minister for Emergency Management took off on a mission to assess the damage and make deliveries.
"A couple of welfare checks, so some people are on dialysis and see if they need to be transferred down to Gisborne to receive medical assistance, dropping off supplies to those who are really isolated who can’t go do the groceries," Minister for Emergency Management Kiri Allan says.
State Highway 35 is slowly being cleared and reopened, but some of the worst-hit areas between Tokomaru Bay and Ruatoria remain largely cut off.
But the road to Anaura Bay is still tricky to navigate and some of the worst of the damage is at the Marae, Hinetamatea and the neighbouring Urupa or cemetery.
Help has not only been on its way via the air but also the land, with one Unimog set off yesterday to make its way up the flooded highway. It carried foodbank deliveries, supplies, and medicines all the way up to Ruatoria using back roads where needed.
Not only has State Highway 35 suffered from the worst of the damage, but the Gisborne region was completely cut off with the closure of State Highway 2 north and south.
Leaderbrand CEO Richard Burke says his crops of leafy greens, lettuce and broccoli, were relatively unscathed in the heavy rain, but getting them out for delivery was only possible when the road to Opotiki opened late last night.
"We were loading at 6 pm until about 10 pm so we were sending as many trucks out as we could we had trucks that needed to hit a ferry in wellington that were going Opotiki and Taupo and Timbuktoo and whatever to get down there," Burke says.
He says there’s been huge investment in regions like Gisborne through the provincial growth fund, but they need better infrastructure to back it up.
"To have all three roads in and out of the city closed, when we’ve had two-three hundred mills you know it seems ludacris," Burke says.
The wild weather has eased in Gisborne, but there is still a strong wind watch in place until midnight and a heavy rain watch until early tomorrow.
While the showers are lighter now, the main concern from flood-damaged communities is that it will happen all over again next time there’s heavy rain.
"Yesterday I announced $175,000 to the mayoral relief fund, today looking to see if we need to do more as a local government to expedite the infrastructure," Allan says.
While the focus is now on cleaning up, some of the damage is irreparable.
