Some Ōhura residents have "lost everything", after floodwaters swept through the town a week ago, the district's civil defence controller says.
By Ellen O'Dwyer of RNZ
Flooding cut off the remote King Country settlement, forcing some locals to escape in chest-high waters in the early hours of last Sunday morning.
A local state of emergency was lifted for the town this Sunday, but a week later, people were still out of their homes and dealing with "a lot of damage", Ruapehu civil defence controller Clive Manley said.
About 50 homes were damaged by flooding, he said, and six were uninhabitable.
"Any individual homes affected is huge to that person, so when you've got water in that's literally destroyed all your furniture, your whiteware, your belongings, it's major for you.
"That was where the six are impacted... some have lost everything and are in alternate accommodation."
Recovery efforts were now focused on getting residents back into the homes that were safe to live in. The council installed de-humidifiers to dry out sodden carpets and floors, and was pumping out septic tanks, Manley said.
Extensive roading works were needed to fix slips throughout the network.
The council was currently assessing the cost of the damage from the deluge and recovery required, said Manley, who was also Ruapehu District Council chief executive.
During the past week, residents have scraped sludge and silt from their homes, and others have searched for animals that disappeared in the floodwaters.
"[Some farms have] lost access through slips and fences damaged, and there was stock loss as well," Manley said.
"There has been loss and there has been hardship to them as well."
A mayoral relief fund was set up with $50,000 of council funds and the Government was asked to contribute to that fund.
The Government has been approached for comment on whether it will contribute.
Manley appealed to the wider public for donations to help those whose clothes and whiteware were destroyed.
The community was resilient, but had been through an "absolutely horrifying" ordeal, he said.
"Just getting out and getting to a safe place was extremely harrowing for them, and we were very fortunate everyone was unharmed.
"There were cars lost and there were people trapped in cars on the night, but there was no-one that was injured, which was really great."
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