The death toll from ex-Cyclone Gabrielle in New Zealand has climbed to 11 as thousands of people remained missing a week after the storm struck the country's North Island.
- Some 5,608 people remain uncontactable across the country, while 1,196 have registered as safe
- Authorities hold grave fears for about 10 of those still missing
- A helicopter has delivered critical supplies to stranded communities
The storm hit the North Island's uppermost region on February 12 and tracked down the east coast, inflicting widespread devastation.
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has called Gabrielle New Zealand's biggest natural disaster this century.
On Sunday, police said two more people had died in the hard-hit Hawke's Bay area in circumstances related to the ex-cyclone, raising the death toll to 11.
Some 5,608 people remained uncontactable across the country, while 1,196 had registered they were safe.
Authorities hold grave fears for about 10 of those still missing.
Recovery teams are working around the clock to carry out rapid building assessments on damaged homes in the coastal areas of Muriwai and Piha, about 60 kilometres west of the nation's largest city, Auckland.
Helicopters have delivered critical supplies to stranded communities after the storm washed away farms, bridges and livestock and inundated homes.
Around 62,000 households across the country were without power on Saturday. Of those, almost 40,000 were in Hawke's Bay, out of a population of about 170,000.
Police have sent an extra 100 officers to Hawke's Bay and nearby Tairawhiti, including to isolated areas, and the New Zealand Herald reported roadblocks have been set up around a rural Hawke's Bay village to deter looters.
"Targeting people in a crisis is abhorrent and we're not tolerating it," police superintendent Jeanette Park said.
Reuters