Fifteen houses are red stickered and hundreds more are yellow in Nelson - with many people unable to return home.
There's also widespread, massive damage across the top of the South Island with farms badly affected across the region.
Insurance companies are expecting a growing number of claims over the days and weeks ahead.
Somebody who's "gumboot deep" in the clean-up after the ferocious rains in Nelson is local insurance broker Chris Collins.
Collins spoke to Susie Ferguson.
