Nearly 5000 people have been reported as unaccounted for following Cyclone Gabrielle.

There are nine people confirmed dead and police have “grave concerns” for about 10 others.

Government officials are providing the latest on the cyclone response as reports emerge of another death in Hawke’s Bay and the water crisis in Gisborne continues.

Five days after the peak of the storm at least nine Kiwi families mourning tragic deaths from Cyclone Gabrielle, while emergency teams continue to hunt for missing people and rush urgent food and water supplies to isolated communities.

The tragedy has hit hard in Hawke’s Bay and Tairāwhiti Gisborne, where seven people have now been confirmed dead, including a 2-year-old girl and the father of a rugby league star. Two others - volunteer firefighters - died after a landslip at Muriwai.

Police Deputy Commissioner Glenn Dunbier said rumours had “come and gone” about multiple deaths but all known deaths had been reported.

They were working on contacting those still unaccounted for.

As of 9pm, there were 4928 people reported as unaccounted for, 885 had reported themselves as safe. Anyone registered and now safe should update their details.

There was a small number of people they had grave concerns about - “about 10″.

Dunbier said there were about 100 extra police staff in the eastern district.

Getting into communities

NEMA acting emergency management director Roger Ball said there had been amazing efforts from first responders.

This was a massive event for New Zealand and the biggest damage he had ever seen.

The main priority was making contact with isolated communities and getting supplies in.

Tairāwhiti had gotten in touch with 90 per cent of their communities and planned to reach 100 per cent by the end of today.

In Hawke’s Bay, reaching those isolated communities was also the priority. In Wairoa, by the end of today, they would have completed their rapid assessments.

Getting fuel to Wairoa was a priority and BP was looking to get fuel there today by road.

Cell towers were also a priority. In Hawke’s Bay, 90 per cent were operating, 80 per cent in Northland and 30 per cent in Gisborne.

Some power was back in Napier.

About 39,000 people remained without power in Hawke’s Bay and 62,000 across the country.

The Gisborne water plant kicked back in this morning. There was also a water treatment unit in Gisborne that could do 2.5 million litres per day.

A health officer with supplies was being flown into Te Puia.

There were reports of aggression towards people assisting.

Ball said the country could be proud of support shown. Money donations was the most effective way to support. Donated goods while well-intentioned did not always match the community’s needs. Instead NEMA was encouraging donations to relief funds.

NZDF had 600 members out on the ground, four aircraft and seven helicopters along with trucks and ships. Another ship was due to sail from Christchurch next week with more supplies.

On Esk Valley, Ball said there would be an opportunity to review and reflect but currently, it was an urgent response.

Fire and Emergency NZ’s Paul Turner said he wanted to acknowledge the Muriwai volunteer fire brigade.

The eight USAR Australian contingent arrived yesterday and other groups of 12 and 5 would arrive today.

There were 58 cyclone-related jobs yesterday and 290 others. FENZ completed 980 building assessments over 200 moderate to totally damaged.

‘Grave fears’

Earlier, Civil Defence said the landslide risk in Piha and Muriwai remains high. About 20 homes were evacuated in Piha due to land instability, and an exclusion zone is in place for a large part of Muriwai.

Prime Minister Chris Hipkins yesterday warned there were also “grave fears” for others, given 4549 people were still listed as uncontactable by whānau and friends.

Almost 2000 people also remained in evacuation centres in Hawke’s Bay, while potentially up to 1000 residents in that region and Tairāwhiti were beyond the reach of emergency services.

Teams – including a specialist Australian crew flying in to help – were keenly focused on establishing regular contact with cut-off communities and restoring essential services to the wider areas where food, water, power and communications remained in limited supply.

Water was an acute problem in Gisborne, with authorities yesterday declaring a crisis and asking residents to stop using the precious resource.

Napier in Hawke’s Bay was also still without power on Friday evening, leaving thousands without refrigerated food and internet connections.

Hipkins said that – having now toured both regions - the scale of the devastation he witnessed was horrific.

“Life on the ground in the affected areas is incredibly tough, and it’s going to be for some time to come,” he said.