Tokomaru residents north of Gisborne are cautiously returning to their homes tonight after 64 households were forced to evacuate on Thursday.
They were all at risk of a dam across the Mangahauini River bursting.
The hundreds of thousands of cubic metres of water that built up behind it threatened to break through and wipe out properties below.
Just 24 hours ago officials were worried this was going to cause a catastrophe.
Cyclone Gabrielle took a massive gouge out of the hillside and forest, landing it right in the Mangahauini River.
It created a dam with 400,000 cubic metres of water behind it. If that burst it could wipe out the entire town.
On Saturday morning a helicopter load of explosives was taken up to the dam site. The plan was to blow it to pieces, but on assessment that didn't need to happen.
"This morning we can see that debris dam draining itself, so they didn't need to use the dynamite, so that's always good," Gisborne Mayor Rehette Stoltz said.
"With all the rain last night the water has pushed through in a safe route and taken its natural route," said Lillian Te Hau-Ward, from Tokomaru Bay Civil Defence.
The water turned State Highway 35 into a river.
"We've been told keep an eye on the water - if it's flowing that's meke, if it's not that's neke," Hau-Ward said.
Local teams will still monitor the dam like they have been for the past few days.
"It's still early days but if we are concerned we will undertake evacuations again," Hau-Ward said.
But the community and officials are feeling relieved. This was the Gisborne Mayor's first trip to Tokomaru Bay.
"The spirits are high, but also we need to make sure we connect that community with the rest of Tairawhiti as quickly as possible," Stoltz said.
But looking at the state of this road it won't be very quick.
