Standing out in the cold manning flood cordons in the middle of the night wasn't exactly an enjoyable job for many during last month's weather bomb.
But "fantastic" Wanganui residents bringing out hot food and drinks to cordon guards made it a little easier, police say.
"You're standing out there, you're shivering, you're cold, you're moving around and you can't move too far from your location ... it's nice to talk to a friendly face," Senior Sergeant Andrew McDonald said on Wednesday.
"It was just remarkable how many different people came out to support us."
For the entire two weeks while cordons were up in places around the city, people would regularly come out and bring cups of coffee, soup, or warm muffins and scones to the personnel on guard duty.
The cordons were manned by police, rural firefighters, army personnel, council workers - including parking wardens and Armourguard staff, Mr McDonald said.
"There's a lot of talk within those groups, and I heard a lot of conversations around how cool it was, that you had people within the community who would come out at two or three o'clock in the morning and provide those home comforts."
Mr McDonald wanted to say "a big thank you from all of us to all of those people for making the effort. It's really good that our community pulls together in so many different ways in these disasters."
It was also nice to have the visits during a "tedious" job.
"When you're working 12 hours on a cordon on a freezing cold night, that contact is really appreciated."