More rain is forecast for the already sodden country early next week.
Five home owners in Edgecumbe were allowed to return home yesterday - but the wait for hundreds of others in the flood-battered town is set to go on for some time yet.
People living at five addresses in East Bank Rd were able to go home after water was connected to their houses.
Sixteen hundred residents were evacuated after the Rangitaiki River burst its banks on Thursday, flooding much of the town, as the remnants of ex-tropical cyclone Debbie drenched much of the North Island and parts of the South Island.
The breach in the stopbank has been closed and water levels are dropping, but a large exclusion zone remains.
Whakatane district mayor Tony Bonne said yesterday he did not know when the rest of the town could go home.
"We are working as fast as we can [but] I don't want to give any expectations to people. They get really disappointed."
A boat makes it way down the street as flooding in Edgecumbe forced exacuation of residents last week.
Bay of Plenty Times Photo / Andrew Warner
The power of the river running through people's homes had caused damage similar to an earthquake, with some houses "tilted" and chimneys toppled, Bonne said.
There were plans to pump water from the town into canals, but it could take up to two weeks for all the water to recede, he said.
Other homes escaped the floodwaters, but could not be inhabited until sewage and water services were restored.
Anyone who urgently needed to return to their home should go to the council's drop-in centre at Awakeri School or call 0800 306 0500.
Requests are being dealt with on a case by case basis, Bonne said.
Animal welfare staff are in the town, and many pets have been rescued.
Several rural Eastern Bay of Plenty settlements have also been isolated by floodwaters and Bonne, Transport Minister Simon Bridges and Waiariki MP Te Ururoa Flavell will fly into some, including Ruatahuna, Te Whāiti and Minginui, todayWashed out roads could take "weeks to months" to fix and opening a forestry route was being considered, Bonne said.
Authorities are also slowly lowering the level of the Matahina Dam, upstream from Edgecumbe, ahead of forecast wet weather.
The flood-zone is on alert for more rain as the week ahead threatens to be another washout.
Surflife saving rescuers Garry King, left, and Kent Jarman, of the Mount Maunganui Lifeguard Service, check a submerged car in Edgecumbe last week. Photo / Jamie Troughton/Dscribe Media Services
MetService meteorologist Peter Little said yesterday heavy rain fuelled by moist subtropical air was set to move over the country late on Wednesday and could stick around until Friday.
Thursday was expected to be the wettest day and northeastern areas from Bay of Plenty to Northland would see the worst of it.
"Saturated areas will have some chance to dry out, but it looks like they will get wet again."
And the weather woes may not end there - a tropical cyclone is developing north-east of Vanuatu, Little said.
At this stage it looked unlikely to reach to New Zealand, but the possibility of it impacting our sodden shores over the Easter long weekend could not be completely ruled out.
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