Nine people are dead and authorities have ‘grave fears’ for others, while more than 4500 people still can’t be contacted, says Prime Minister Chris Hipkins.

The situation in Hawke’s Bay is ‘very rough’, there is no power and Napier and evacuation centres are full, the PM says.

Hipkins’ visit to Hawke’s Bay and the devastated Esk Valley community today coincided with news this morning a two-year-old girl was swept away there in rising floodwaters. This came after news overnight that a second heroic volunteer fireman had died after being caught in a landslide at Muriwai while attempting to save a woman’s house.

“I saw first-hand today just how much Cyclone Gabrielle is going to affect the country,” Hipkins said.

On the death toll, Hipkins said it was not likely to be “huge numbers” more a few people at a time.

The Esk Valley was “full of mud”. Water and mud was destroying homes and crops. Generators were being brought to a central point in Napier.

It was likely the effects of the cyclone would be felt for “quite some time”.

Hipkins confirmed eight people had died, with a ninth person, George Luke, the father of former Kiwi star Issac Luke, dead following a slip on the Taihape-Napier road.

Emergency services held grave concerns for more deaths. There were 4549 people uncontactable and every resource available was being used to assist in searching for people missing - including a team from Australia which arrived today.

Hipkins said 62,000 remained without power.

Authorities were working on cell tower coverage, which had been returned to about 70 per cent of people in affected areas, getting fuel tankers into affected areas, and getting safe water back into Gisborne households.

Air Commodore Darryn Webb from NZ Defence Force said on the East Coast a ship had dropped off supplies in Tokomaru Bay. Resources to assist with water supply and power were also arriving.

The team was also identifying further areas for helicopters to arrive. In Wairoa a water treatment plant had been set up.

A C-130 Hercules has just departed Auckland with water treatment facilities for Gisborne.

In Hawke’s Bay a ship with 26 tonnes of supplies on board had arrived and the army had established a headquarters in Napier.

Webb said they were prepared to construct temporary bridges as needed.

“It is an extraordinary time and we are seeing an extraordinary effort from some amazing New Zealanders.”

Gisborne residents have also been urged to stop using the main water supply as it threatens to run dry after issues at the backup water treatment plant. The main supply line was severed in seven places during the storm and there is currently no timeline for when it could be repaired.

Hipkins and officials will provide the latest on the cyclone response from 5.30pm.

In Hawke’s Bay, Hipkins was told there were potentially thousands of residents who were yet to be contacted by emergency services. He promised as many resources as possible are being provided to assist in the cyclone response.

Hipkins started his time in Hawke’s Bay with a visit to an emergency management group centre in Hastings, where he received a briefing.

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He then travelled north to Napier to the Rodney Green Centennial Event Centre which had been transformed into a shelter for those displaced by the floods.

Joined by Labour ministers including Kieran McAnulty and local Stuart Nash, Hipkins spoke largely to shelter coordinators looking at food supplies and discussing how the facility was operating.

He also took time to take photos with members of the public at their request, and heard stories from those impacted by flooding.

Prime Minister Chris Hipkins receiving a hug from Tukituki MP Anna Lorck as he arrives at an emergency management centre in Hastings. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Hipkins, escorted by local Civil Defence staff, was driven up a hill overlooking Esk Valley where he was able to see the extent of the damage and ask further questions of Civil Defence.

Hipkins then moved to the nearby Eskdale School where he met with search and rescue staff who had based themselves at the school as they looked for people in need.

One, a Hawke’s Bay local, was brave enough to ask the Prime Minister “good start to the reign ay?”, which prompted chuckles from the responders in earshot and from Hipkins himself.

Speaking to reporters briefly at the school, Hipkins said search and rescue staff needed time to canvas those communities that hadn’t yet been reached.

“We’ve got an amazing group of people here who are just throwing everything at it,” Hipkins said.

“I know that they’re determined to get to every area, to check every house, they just need the time to be able to do that.”

Prime Minister Chris Hipkins speaks to the media after visiting search and rescue staff in the Esk Valley, Hawke's Bay. Video / Mark Mitchell

Hipkins said he was taken aback by the damage he witnessed in Esk Valley.

“The extent of the damage it really is confronting, just the true extent of the challenge that these guys have got in front of them.”

He said personnel from Australia had been arriving overnight to assist in the response.

We’re accepting offers of help, we’re trying to get as many people here on the ground as we possibly can.”

Urban search and rescue squad leader Joel Fraser spoke with Hipkins briefly, outlining the recent actions of his team.

Fraser told the Prime Minister how they had had to be creative in order to access isolated communities, saying this afternoon the team would be attempting to reach residents of Ellis Wallace Rd by going up a mountain bike track and travelling over farmland.

Speaking to reporters, Fraser acknowledged there was a chance some communities hadn’t been contacted yet.

“As you can imagine, there are many outlying communities, Waiora’s another pretty badly affected area.

“Our main priority now is to make sure that there’s nobody trapped in houses and also no deceased in the flood-affected properties.”

As a local, Fraser said the impact on his region was “pretty devastating”.

“I’ve grown up in this area so seeing what we’re seeing at the moment is pretty gut-wrenching but there are some pretty awesome people out there already starting to get in and make a difference.”

Emergency Management Minister Kieran McAnulty, speaking from a shelter in Napier, told reporters his focus was to receive an update from Civil Defence representatives.

“Whenever I come to these sorts of things, I want to get a gauge that everyone’s getting what they need and so far I haven’t heard that they’re not, so that’s deeply encouraging,” he said.

“We’ve got to make sure that those communication lines stay up because the one thing I’m hearing from everyone is without being able to communicate freely through technology, it’s just making the whole thing that much harder and that’s really rough.”

McAnulty said he would be leaving Napier to travel north to Wairoa, a community he was “really worried about”.

Asked about people who were still in desperate need of support, McAnulty was confident emergency responders were employing every resource available.

“There are so many breaks in the system and this is not going to be a quick fix.”

Emergency Management Minister Kieran McAnulty speaking after talking to displaced people in Napier. Video / Mark Mitchell