After assessing 106 properties in Napier, 16 have been deemed uninhabitable, Fire and Emergency NZ says. The residents have been evacuated.
The city has been slammed by massive heavy rain, forcing evacuations and flooding many homes.
In a statement this afternoon, Fire and Emergency NZ Area Manager Ken Cooper said teams of FENZ, Civil Defence, Red Cross and the city council had been visiting suburbs to check on people's welfare and assess property damage.
He said structural damage ranged "from minor to, in some cases, severe".
Some 106 properties had been assessed by 5pm, he said.
"Of those assessments, 16 have been determined uninhabitable and occupants have been evacuated."
Read back through live updates from 10 November here:
Officials also held a media briefing in Napier this afternoon, and said extra police would be patrolling areas hit by the floods to ensure property is kept safe tonight, and flood prone streets are safe.
Wise said the priority was to ensure that vulnerable community members were receiving the care that they needed and were being evacuated. She said it was very lucky no one had been hospitalised or killed from the slips or floods.
"We still have some significant flooding in Maraenui and Pirimai. That's a priority area for us," she said.
Fire and Emergency NZ Area Manager Ken Cooper said significant areas for them was Bluff Hill and Hospital Hill.
"We've had some landslips so we have our rescue crew workign alongside Napier City Council building officers. We're doing assessments of that this afternoon."
Earlier, Dylan Rosser says he and a friend are going to check on elderly neighbours and paddle them any essentials they need.
Hawke's Bay Civil Defence says it is likely thousands of houses are damaged from the flooding, which reached record levels according to Niwa.
The worst affected flooding is in the low lying areas of Onekawa, Maraenui, Pirimai and Marewa, but it could be 48 hours before the full extent of the damage is understood.
Napier Hill has also been hit by slips and Fire and Emergency has sent up drones to investigate.
About 40 people evacuated their homes last night and 15 spent the night in the Kennedy Park evacuation centre.
Civil Defence says the floodwaters are likely "significantly contaminated" by sewage and people should keep out of it if possible.
It says cars driving though floodwaters are causing waves that are increasing damage to properties and unnecessary travel should be avoided.
Fire and Emergency says it had 340 callouts between 5pm yesterday and this morning.
Power was out to thousands of properties overnight but now about 650 are without electricity.
The Hawke's Bay District Health Board says there is no evidence the water supply has been contaminated and testing will continue.
There are blue skies in the Hawke's Bay right now but MetService says another bout of heavy rain is predicted.
Although it isn't expected to be as heavy as what has already fallen it could cause more problems.