The Emergency Management Minister says Wairoa locals want answers to why their town flooded so badly

Rain battered the district last week - damaging more than 100 properties.

Its state of emergency lifted this morning - and another half-a-million-dollars has been added to the Mayoral Relief Funding.

Mark Mitchell says they're launching a month-long review into the river mouth and its bar - which residents say should've been opened sooner on the day.

He says there's a very strong feeling that had there been action taken on it, it would've prevented the flooding's severity.