The East Coast has been lashed by wild weather and States of Emergency have been declared in Wairoa and the Heretaunga ward, which surrounds Hastings.
Power in Wairoa was shut off on Wednesday, with floodwaters putting hundreds of homes at risk.
Wairoa Mayor Craig Little described it as a "desperate situation".
In Haumoana, Hawke's Bay, massive waves crashed over the sea wall and inland sheep were crammed up to tree trunks in flooded paddocks.
And rivers are expected to remain at extremely high levels on Wednesday night.
Residents fled for their lives in the middle of last night, wading out through waist-deep water.
About 400 properties in Wairoa are flooded in an area not usually prone to flooding.
"It's been huge and some of these homes have never seen water like this for over 60 years, or never in living memory," said Little.
That's because this time it's the sea that's caused all the problems - 6m swells stopped the river from flowing out to sea.
"This is absolutely madness. There must be a lot of people with houses destroyed," said Wairoa resident Jason Smith.
"People have lost everything. Their houses have gone again, same as in [Cyclone] Gabrielle. It's really depressing to be fair," he told Newshub.
Emergency Management Minister Mark Mitchell is also concerned about Wairoa.
"It's pretty catastrophic for them, they continue to get hit without a doubt. So getting up there is my priority," Mitchell said.
Further down the coast in Haumoana, the ocean was causing more problems - threatening homes and resulting in 200 people being evacuated early Wednesday morning.
"Pretty full on, pretty traumatic," said Haumoana resident Troy Gardener.
Even with the council's pumps working non-stop, the swell surged over the dunes.
"It's the most I've seen and I've lived out here most of life," one local told Newshub.
"We're just worried about people around us, that was all, so we're just making sure everyone in the community was OK," said another.
"We're deliberately taking a cautious approach, just on the fact of the amount of damage that was done at the sea crests, where the sea's come in and overtopped," said Clint Adamson of Hawke's Bay Civil Defence.
"We just want to make sure there's no chance at high tide tonight that the water's going to come straight back over and cause further issues," he said.
Lessons from Cyclone Gabrielle
Newshub asked if Civil Defence has learned from the response to Cyclone Gabrielle.
"It's definitely lessons learnt," Mitchell replied.
"I just want to be clear that the people who responded to Cyclone Gabrielle were good, they were let down by process," he added.
Dozens of people sheltered at Haumoana School Hall, including Renee Jury and her five kids.
Her property is flooded, which she said could've been avoided if the council fixed the local drain.
Newshub asked how many years the problem has been going on.
"Over 20 years of problems," Jury said.
She's hoping this time the council acts.
"Bloody fix it, keep your promises. The mayor told us she was going to do something about it - she hasn't. She's done nothing," Jury told Newshub.
"In our long term plan, there are two parts: Haumoana and Te Awanga, that we are going to be considering how we move forward to keep the communities safe," said Hastings mayor Sandra Hazlehurst.
It's a tough job when mother nature has so much force.
High tide in Haumoana is about 9pm on Wednesday, so authorities are worried that could cause more damage.
A heavy rain warning also applies to all of Hawke's Bay until 11pm.
That's why the States of Emergency for Hastings (Heretaunga ward) and Wairoa have been kept in place for now.
Authorities also made the decision not to lift cordons around the community of Haumoana tonight, due to the high risk of coastal inundation.
And river levels are beginning to recede in some areas, but more rain is on the way.
"People who have evacuated should stay where they are and not return home until advised to do so by Civil Defence," said a Hastings District Council spokesperson.
"While we understand people may be upset at spending a night away from home, we want to avoid re-evacuating people in the middle of the night."
Haumoana School remains open as shelter for those who've evacuated, while Flaxmere's Civil Defence Centre is on standby if needed.
Motorists have been urged to avoid driving on the region's roads unless it's essential.
The Emergency Management Minister is headed to Wairoa with the Defence Force to assess the damage and will be on the ground on Thursday.
He announced an initial $300,000 would go towards Gisborne, Hastings, and Wairoa councils to help with the response.
