Beachfront residents in the Hawke's Bay have been allowed to return home after waves reported to be as high as a house prompted an evacuation today.
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Police evacuated residents from 21 houses at Haumoana Beach, 10km north east of Hastings, and another four residents at Ocean Beach, 24km south east of Hastings.
An area stretching from Waipatiki, south east of Dannevirke, to Whirinaki, 15km north east of Napier, and including Te Awanga, Clifton and Waimarama was also affected by the swells.
The Hastings District Council monitored the swells over the weekend before activating emergency management operations today.
The waves measured between three and six metres, with residents reporting one wave was higher than a house, Senior Sergeant Ross Smith said.
People were warned to stay off the beaches and away from low-lying waterways right along the Hawke's Bay coastline.
The council said this afternoon the risk had lowered enough for residents to return home, but advised people to remain vigilant.
The council's emergency management operations centre was keeping an eye on sea conditions leading up to high tide at 1.20am tomorrow.
More residents should be prepared to evacuate if conditions worsened.
The last high tide had thrown debris onto properties and smashed windows at Haumoana.
Police had put up a road block on Ocean Beach Road to keep sightseers out.
Debris was washing onto Clifton Rd at Haumoana, and the road to the Clifton Motorcamp had eroded.
The swells were the worst in 12 years, Mr Smith said.
A council spokeswoman said that the dangers to people on the beaches "couldn't be over-emphasised".
"After all, we saw how people reacted during the tsunami warning," she said.
The MetService said the swells should recede over the next few days.
NZPA