Emergency Management Minister, Mark Mitchell, says Cyclone Vaianu could've been much worse - and Kiwis prepared well. 

Gisborne and some other East Coast communities are still cut off with sections of State Highways 2 and 35 closed, due to fallen trees, flooding and slips. 

The last of MetService's strong wind warnings and watches for Wairarapa and the Tararua District are set to ease at 7 this morning.

Mark Mitchell told Ryan Bridge several thousand houses were evacuated across the North Island.

He says some of them have flooded, but a lot were precautionary evacuations - which was the right thing to do.