Vital river monitoring infrastructure in Hawke's Bay buckled under the pressure of the storm last week.
Most of the region's rain and river level monitoring sites lost their connection on Monday night, leaving the council and emergency responders in the dark.
Residents of the devastated Esk Valley say by the time they received an evacuation notice, floodwaters had well and truly arrived.
Hawke's Bay Regional Council interim chief executive Pieri Munro spoke to Guyon Espiner.
