Rain is expected to continue to drench the Gisborne area, after heavy downpours caused widespread flooding yesterday.
Tolaga Bay, north of Gisborne, saw severe flooding rip through on Sunday night, with one family's house flooded and their wool shed was washed away .
Tairawhiti Civil Defence said the rivers in Tolaga Bay area have receded, however more rain is forecast to be on the way this morning and later this week.
Tarawhiti Civil Defence says although conditions eased overnight, a weather watch remains in place.
"Tolaga Bay received further dumps of heavy rain last night but the Hikuwai River, north of Tolaga Bay, while trending down, remains elevated at around 5.5m. The average winter flow is around 2m," the statement said.
The MetService has issued a weather watch for the Bay of Plenty, east of Te Puke, and Gisborne until 2pm.
Tairawhiti Civil Defence Emergency manager Louise Bennett said a close eye is being kept on any flooding development.
"With the catchment already saturated and the Uawa and Hikuwai rivers fairly high, if we get localised rain bands coming through, the rivers could well spike quickly again.
"We feel extremely fortunate that we did not have any fatalities yesterday as the result of the flooding."
Tairawhiti Roads journey manager Helen Harris said the clean up may take time.
"We working on how we will best clean up these bridges. Forestry companies are complying with our request to stay off the roads where possible. Some have offered to help remove logs damming up around bridges."
About 30 properties are still without power. Eleven bridges are being assessed by engineers, and 12 local roads are still closed. State Highway 35 is open.
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