Hundreds of people in Hawke's Bay and Gisborne are still cut off by road and have no power.
Puketitiri is usually a 50-minute drive from Napier. Now it's worlds away.
They're relying on local pilots to fly in critical supplies - and hoping the money doesn't run out.
In the middle of nowhere a grassy airstrip is a lifesaver. When this is the only way help can get in, the local fertilizer plane is a very welcome sight for a community that's run out of fuel.
"The fuel's been the issue in the last week or so," said Puketitiri farmer Tim Nelson.
Without this liquid gold, they have no power, no transport and no machinery.
"We're using hundreds of litres of fuel every day just around here, just to get the generators going," he added.
More than 700 people relied on the bridge to get to town. But with it washed away they're now completely cut off, with no power and dealing with major losses of land and critical infrastructure.
"A third of our farm sort of just collapsed and it's taken everything in its path," Nelson said.
"It's infrastructure - fences, culverts, tracks. Then the water system - there's no troughs for animals."
A tough time made easier by the support and generosity of those on the outside.
"Our domain down there looks like a mini-supermarket - it's incredible. We've had people coming down every day to get food," said Puketitiri farmer Alice Nelson.
And a box or two of beer doesn't go astray.
To see how the piles of donated goods get in, Newshub hitched a ride with fertilizer company Aerospread, which is using its own money to fly supplies all over Hawke's Bay. It's cost them $30,000 so far.
"We put our name down at the rescue coordination centre and we haven't heard from them yet, so we're just doing our own thing," said Super Air operations manager Kent Karangaroa.
"We know it's right because we're getting the support from the community."
There's been plenty of food and clothing donated - but what farmers need now is things like pet food, vet supplies, fencing equipment and also water infrastructure so they can reconnect their pipes and troughs in areas that have been damaged.
"The community needs everyone to listen to what they're after," Karangaroa said.
With roads cut off, it's also been a challenge for emergency services.
"Normally an ambulance would go, but they can't get there because the bridge is out or the road is out, so that's made us busy," said Search and Rescue Services chief pilot Charlie Beetham.
An army of skilled volunteers up and down the East Coast has been flying supplies into cut-off communities for the past 12 days, including NZ Farming Farmers Air and the Rural Support Trust.
"People are just cooking up a storm in their kitchens, and then private pilots like this are getting it flown out into the right places," said Bel Gunson of the Rural Support Trust.
Promising they'll be there whenever and whatever people need.
"The ongoing stress is going to cause real problems for people's welfare," Gunson said.
Not to mention the wide implications to New Zealand's economy.
"Going to need huge amount of financial support. Hort, viticulture - all areas. Don't know how people survive, businesses and homes gone," Gunson said.
Because the true cost of this cyclone keeps growing by the day.
