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The clean- up continued in the Far North on Monday. And as Cabinet considered what its financial response to the floods would be it emerged that 23 homes in the area have been declared unsuitable to live in.
It is estimated the total cost of the clean-up will be around $80 million.
A house-to-house survey of properties in the more severely affected areas of Paihia, Opua and Russell revealed 65 houses have been damaged, either by floodwater inundation or slips. Of those houses, 23 have been declared dangerous and unsuitable to live in and a further five are close to the dangerous category.
The number of houses substantially damaged by the weather event is expected to continue to increase over the next few days as more information comes to hand.
By Monday morning the insurance industry had received around 700 notifications of damage and some 20 claims are understood to have been lodged with the Earthquake Commission.
The Insurance Council is encouraging those who have suffered damage to lodge their claims as soon as possible.
Damage the farming industries in the region is still being assessed. However preliminary reports indicate that damage may not have been as extensive as earlier feared. The majority of rural damage relates to fences lost in the flooding, siltation of pastures and on-farm slips.
Farmers in the region have estimated the total cost to their livelihood will be around $20 million.
Far North Mayor Yvonne Sharp says communities in the Bay of Islands have really come together and she has been impressed by people's resilience in such difficult conditions.
"Communities have really come together and worked tirelessly to look after friends and neighbours, and quite frequently complete strangers, to lessen the impact on others less fortunate," she says.
Residents in the Paihia, Haruru Falls, Waitangi, Opua and Kawakawa water supply areas are being advised to boil all drinking water for at least another 48 hours.
The water treatment plants for the areas are back in full production, but the rivers from which the raw water is drawn are still heavily silted and water quality issues are continuing.
