Hundreds of people there were forced to flee their homes when the Wairoa river burst its banks yesterday.
Power is now mostly back on but the eight-thousand residents have no phone service, only one day's worth of food and enough drinking water for two days.
The Wairoa District Council is communicating with the outside world via satellite.
An airforce plane will fly over the town today to assess the damage.
Lauren Crimp is in Hastings where local Civil Defence is managing the situation in Wairoa.
