It could take a year for one road to reopen after this week's floods, but some central North Island residents are counting their blessings.
People stranded at Pipiriki have power, phone access and food and reckon they are better off than people 100km south in Wanganui dealing with flooded houses since the weekend.
Pipiriki residents narrowly avoided slips just 500m away on Whanganui River Rd and Pipiriki-Raetihi Rd.
"We can't go out. We can't go to work. We can't do nothing," one man said.
The whole village of about 25 people had lunch at the marae yesterday, after a morning working together. It was warm in the marae kitchen, and there was plenty of food.
Locals said 20 people with shovels spent three hours clearing a slip blocking access to Pipiriki's river landing. Residents also cleared slips blocking access to houses downriver, and made sure everyone had firewood.
Residents were sent groceries, cigarettes and petrol. Children were flown out so they could attend school in Raetihi. Pregnant women were also flown out as a precaution - but one had since returned.
None of the houses at Pipiriki were flooded, but a slip came down behind Thomas Treanor's house and hit the shed at the back.
"It rocked the house when it came down," Mr Treanor said.
Bobby Gray said the village comprised two or three families, all related. They were isolated and self-sufficient.
"We have all pulled together since we were born. It's what a Maori hapu is about."
It's lucky they were not pining to get to Wanganui, as the Whanganui River Rd was in ruins.
Huge slips and dropouts hit the road, and in places the river rose right over it. It could take more than a year to fix, the Wanganui Chronicle reported.
Silver lining
Ken and Josephine Haworth, at the Pipiriki campground, feared the ruined road would drastically limit their business next summer. But Mr Haworth also saw a silver lining.
"We've just finished our best season ever, and that puts us in our best possible position for it," Mr Haworth said.
Transport Minister Simon Bridges said he saw extensive damage to the Wanganui region after he visited flood-hit areas yesterday.
He said he wanted his agencies to put "all available resources" into fixing the lower North Island's storm-damaged transport networks. He has pledged Government funding for local road repairs.
Some Wanganui properties were yet to be assessed and it could take weeks before several roads were cleared in remote areas.
Civil Defence Minister Nikki Kaye attended a Civil Defence briefing in the city before visiting Waitotara in South Taranaki yesterday.
"Obviously everyone is working hard to balance getting people into their homes with public safety," she said.
Roads in Rangitikei took a pounding and Ms Kaye estimated 75% of affected rural roads would be cleared within a month.
"Clearing those roads is going to be a real priority to ensure those people get access. But again there are some parts of these roads that are really damaged."
PM to visit Wanganui
Prime Minister John Key will visit Wanganui tomorrow. Mayor Annette Main will meet him in Palmerston North at 2.30pm and take a helicopter flight over the region before attending a meeting at Wanganui District Council Chambers at 3.50pm.
Mr Key will then visit the Civil Defence Centre at Wanganui Girls College before departing Wanganui at 5pm.
Ms Main said authorities were staying in touch with people in isolated communities.
"There's hundreds of people in our area who are completely cut off and today we're out visiting every single one of those that we can find, dropping in in helicopters," she said.
Freak floods were too much for barriers designed to handle once-in-a-generation floods in the central North Island.
Stopbanks are embankments, usually mounds of earth, built near rivers to prevent floods.
Stopbanks protecting Anzac Parade was designed to handle a 30-year flood but on Saturday were overwhelmed when 300mm to 400mm fell. However, many other stopbanks withstood the onslaught.
"We are quite devastated that the stopbanks were overtopped and property was damaged. But the assets performed as per design and to their limit," Horizons Regional Council engineer Wayne Spencer said.
- By Wanganui Chronicle staff, Additional reporting: NZME. News Service
