The Hawke's Bay district of Wairoa remains in a local state of emergency as residents get a clearer picture of the flood damage.
Wairoa Mayor Craig Little declared the state of emergency on Wednesday morning after rivers rose to dangerous levels.
More than 400 properties in Wairoa have been affected by flooding.
Focus now turns to assessing the damage and cleaning up, with Emergency Management Minister Mark Mitchell, Wairoa Mayor Craig Little and Napier MP Katie Nimon touring the district on Thursday.
"Right now, we are still in response mode and, from the central Government's point of view, I want to make sure that we're getting all the support that the council need," Mitchell told reporters in Wairoa on Thursday.
"Without a doubt, the key to this response has been the early calling of that state of emergency [and] the way that the local Civil Defence team stand up."
Mitchell's message to Wairoa residents was "you're not on your own".
"We are there to support them; we are there to identify what support is required and we don't want them to feel like they're on their own, because you can see the enormous emotional and human cost associated with people that have just experienced a deeply traumatic event with the flooding," he said.
Newshub senior reporter Alexa Cook, speaking from Hawke's Bay, said the damage was worse than many locals predicted it would be.
"People that I've talked to that live along the banks of the Wairoa River said they've actually seen worse flooding in some parts of the town than they saw even in Cyclone Gabrielle in February last year," she told AM on Thursday.
However, the worst of the weather has now passed - with heavy rain warnings lapsing overnight, the Hawke's Bay Regional Council said.
"The threat of significant rain for Hawke's Bay has now passed and MetService has removed the rain warnings," the council said on Thursday.
"Some rain, at greatly reduced intensities, is likely to continue through to Friday.
"The risk of river flooding has now subsided and all rivers are either receding, or returning to their tidal cycles."
In Gisborne, residents were also desperate for a break following another hammering of extreme weather and flooding this week,
Mayor Rehette Stoltz told AM people were remaining positive despite the struggle.
"It is better out there this morning," she said on Thursday.
"At the least the rivers are having some time to drain out properly and we don't see the... surface flooding we've seen in the last two days, so that is good news for us."
Gisborne city residents were being asked to conserve water on Thursday after a break in a water supply main pipe the day prior.
"Yesterday, the alternative water supply from the Waipaoa Treatment Plant was started up and will be operating later today helping supplement the supply to our taps," Gisborne District Council drinking water manager Judith Robertson said.
"While there is sufficient water in the Gisborne reservoirs for today, uncertainty about repairing the broken pipe means we are asking everyone to be mindful of their water use and to conserve water.
"The look and feel of the water from your taps may change over the next couple of days as the alternative source comes from the Waipaoa River which has been in flood... Please remember, the water is safe to drink and will meet NZ's very high water quality assurance rules set by Taumata Arowai."
MetService's severe weather forecast suggested the wild conditions would target the South Island on Friday.
"A front is expected to bring a brief burst of rain to the south and west of the South Island as it moves northeastwards and weakens," the forecaster said.
"There is low confidence of warnable amounts of rain for western Fiordland and the Westland District south of the glaciers.
"Meanwhile, a ridge moves over central New Zealand onto the North Island, with south to southeast winds... continuing to ease."
Newshub.
