Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has indicated reconnecting some isolated communities could take up to six months.
He spoke to media at the Tai Rāwhiti Emergency Coordination Centre after visiting nearby weather-hit areas by helicopter.
He was joined by Transport Minister Chris Bishop and Associate Minister for Emergency Management and Recovery Chris Penk.
Luxon said the trip with his ministers to Hick's Bay and Te Araroa had been very successful and helped them see and understand the huge challenges in parts of the roading network.
"It's going to take some time to work our way through some of those issues, but again there's been very good coordination between local government, central government, our agencies, iwi have been outstanding in marae across the country but particularly here as well.
"There's a lot more funds available in our existing budgets, and obviously there'll be more to do as we support the recovery."
Bishop earlier issued a statement, updating the status of roads around the country.
An estimated 1000 truckloads of debris still need to be cleared from State Highway 2 through the Waioweka Gorge after the recent wild weather.
The Bay of Plenty road remains closed due to about 40 slips along the route.
Luxon said the impact of the disaster was less widespread than Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023, but had been "massive and deep" in the small and isolated communities that were affected.
"Having seen State Highway 35, some of the other roading challenges we've got, we've got some really serious feats of engineering. When you have to move 500,000 cubic metres of soil, find somewhere to put that, you know that is relentless work, five to six months of work."
He said it was important to establish connectivity for those communities that were still isolated.
"Think about the medical need, think about the housing need, food and supplies - those sorts of things we've got to continue to put in place."
Bishop said they were aiming to get at least one lane in Waioweka Gorge reopened in the next week.
State Highway 35 on the East Coast had also been hit hard, with one section between Te Araroa and Pōtaka likely to be out of action for some time.
"State Highway 35 is going to be very tricky, a lot of dirt to move as the PM says, but we fully understand and acknowledge the importance of the gorge, particularly for freight," Bishop said.
Asked about whether that would include upgrades, he said they were focusing on the response and the recovery and needed to assess the scale of the damage first.
Meanwhile, State Highway 25 between Whangamatā and Whiritoa was not expected to reopen until next month.
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