Thomas and Leanne Papuni have waited months for the truth about the killing of their 11-year-old son Triston by a 12-year-old relative.

A 13-year-old East Coast boy has become one of New Zealand's youngest killers after admitting a charge of manslaughter today.

Heavy rain has left Gisborne virtually cut off, with surface flooding closing roads and forcing the evacuation of homes.

Heavy rain is lashing the North Island's East Coast, leaving dozens of homes without power and closing rural schools and roads.

Schools have closed, houses are without power and homes have been evacuated as rain continues to lash the Gisborne region.

The icy southerly sweeping up the North Island has brought snow to the hills around Waikato and the Bay of Plenty and in some paddocks.