Ruapehu District Council has engineers supported by road contractors out doing assessments of damage to roads, bridges and other infrastructure.
A second engineer is coming into the district tomorrow to help with the large number of assessments required with repairs anticipated to costs millions of dollars.
Civil Defence Controller Clive Manley said that the current flooding was the third large scale weather event to have impacted Ruapehu this year.
The earlier events had caused extensive damage to the roading network, and repairs were still underway when the latest weather hit.
Although the flood waters have receded, we continue to ask people to refrain from driving unless absolutely necessary.
As the flooding has retreated it has left behind a lot of detritus on the roads that were flooded such as logs and heavy silt as well as other damage.
There are also a lot of large vehicles and other heavy equipment on the roads as part of the recovery efforts.
Roading teams are focused on undertaking assessments and opening-up access to a minimum of one-lane with long-term repairs to follow.
All Council Water Treatment Plants are fully operational however Taumarunui residents are requested to still continue to conserve water due to the turbidity in the Whanganui River.
KiwiRail have been able to deliver food and other provisions to 14 individuals at Waimiha.
The welfare team will be resupplying 15 individuals in Maitere, Ohura and on SH4 north of Taumarunui this afternoon.
All individuals who have previously contacted Council over the last few days have now had welfare checks done.
All known self-evacuated residents are sheltering with neighbours, friends or whanau while they wait for the water to recede from their properties.
The most affected properties are in Okahukura next to the Ongarue River a few kilometres north of Taumarunui where flood waters reached a number of homes.
All marae and schools have been contacted and offered support.
All schools are all open with the exception of Maitere, Ongarue, Ohura and Tokirima.
People are asked to continue to call Council on 07 895 8188 with any road outage information or if they have any welfare needs.
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