Hawke's Bay locals are concerned that desperately-needed volunteer support will start to dry up in the cyclone-ravaged region, with fears they may not cope without further help from authorities.
Resident Daniel Bergloff-Howes said he hasn't had any help clearing his home. His home, on Shore Rd in Eskdale, is in part of the region worst hit by the cyclone.
With silt as high as rooftops, locals say it's been mainly volunteers helping clean up.
"It's gutting, really tough because we've been slogging our guts out. It'd be good to see a bit of support from the authorities," he said.
"All the support we've had has been through volunteers and community people.
"A lot of people agree that in the rural areas, we do get forgotten about in a lot of situations."
In Hawke's Bay, a Facebook group has been coordinating offers of help alongside getting food out to families with boots on the ground.
The group's coordinator Chloe Johnson said the need is widespread.
"There are lots of different pockets of help that's needed, and not all the big organisations and charity groups can get to them," she said.
"We're not only helping the little guys or the smaller jobs — which are still really needed — but the help we're providing is also boosting the community spirit."
Visiting the region today, Prime Minister Chris Hipkins said the Government will have announcements on additional support soon.
"We will absolutely make sure we have people where they are needed."
Hawke's Bay Civil Defence controller Ian Macdonald said that authorities had to prioritise jobs.
"That's a difficult thing for emergency managers to do, but we have to do that because we only have limited resources," he said.
"We will be transitioning to recovery at some stage, but the emergency has to be over.
"At the moment, we still have people in remote communities. We still have rain that could cause evacuations. We will still need to be involved until the state of emergency is over."
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