The Hawke's Bay settlement of Pakowhai is between two cities, Napier and Hastings, and two rivers, the Tutaekuri and Ngaruroro.
When Cyclone Gabrielle tore through on 14 February, those rivers breached their stopbanks and unleashed a torrent of raging water higher than some houses.
Two months on, residents are waiting to see if they can rebuild their shattered lives and ruined homes, unsure if the area will be declared a red zone.
Pakowhai resident Lynley Halpin stands in the shell of her family home, unsure of its future. Photo: RNZ / Jimmy Ellingham
Among them is Lynley Halpin, whose home is a yellow-stickered shell. She and her family don't yet know if they can return.
"A friend whose parents had gone through Cyclone Bola advised us straight away to strip [the house] back as quickly as possible.
"We had a huge working bee, stripped it back to the framing so it's been drying, just to try to save it as much as we could," she said.
"But, really, it's ultimately up to insurance and the council whether we rebuild here. We want to rebuild, but we're just waiting for them to make decisions."
A cottage on Lynley Halpin's property will be pulled down after it was damaged in the flood. Photo: RNZ / Jimmy Ellingham
Cyclone Recovery Minister Grant Robertson said officials were moving as fast as they could to consider the future of cyclone-hit areas.
For those whose homes could be in a red zone, such as Halpin, uncertainty was compounded by the weight of cleaning up the cyclone's mess.
"[It was] a total cesspool - sludge everywhere, knee-deep sludge. We'd walk through it and there were pitted holes. It's actually really dangerous walking through it," Halpin said.
"Once we got a digger in and started cleaning some of the driveway there were upside down garden pots and all sorts of things under the sludge that we didn't even know were there.
"It was a mess, a total mess."
Halpin and her family felt fortunate they had friends and family to help, but felt sorry for people who did not.
Rubbish continues to be left on the side of the road as the cyclone cleanup continues. Photo: RNZ / Jimmy Ellingham
On 14 February, Halpin received warning something was up from her in-laws and raised the alarm about the looming threat along Brookfields Road.
As the cyclone hit and the floodwater rose, she and her two daughters took shelter first in her hair salon above a shed.
When the water reached close to that they had to go even higher.
"In that moment when the water was coming up really fast we had no idea how deep it was going to get. We were petrified," she said.
"We used an axe to break through the plastic Novalite and then climbed up through the framing.
"I've got a stuffed knee. I couldn't actually get on the roof so I stayed on the roof of that little framing bit, which was quite slippery and quite scary.
"The girls were standing up on the roof."
While there they watched in horror as three of their horses were swept away, but they miraculously survived.
The Halpins are renting elsewhere at the moment, although their insurance will not cover this forever.
So, they are making plans to move back to their property of more than 20 years in a relocatable house while the family home is rebuilt.
"I want to rebuild. I want to live here. I love living here. I want reassurance from the regional council and the higher ups that they can manage the rivers so we're safe to live here," Halpin said.
"I want to live back in our home and I want to sleep at night. It's a good place to live and I just want to be here again."
Bill and Meda Hawkins hope they can rebuild their Pakowhai home. Photo: RNZ / Jimmy Ellingham
Next door, Bill and Meda Hawkins feel the same.
Like the Halpins, they are living elsewhere, and their yellow-stickered home is stripped and drying out while its future - and that of Pakowhai - is decided.
"The house was badly flooded up to the ceiling of the ground floor. The water travelled up the walls," Bill Hawkins said.
"The interior of the whole of the ground floor has been stripped of the Gib."
The pair were rescued from their two-storey home by helicopter on 14 February.
After that they have had help from volunteers from throughout New Zealand, and donations of household items from the Lions club.
There's still much to clean up as their minds turn to the future.
"We need some decisions from the council and the Beehive," Meda Hawkins said.
"There's not a lot of help for people like us. You're left to paddle your own canoe, really. You've just got to pull up your boots and get on with it."
Gary Spence has lived in Pakowhai all his life and doesn't want to leave. Photo: RNZ / Jimmy Ellingham
Over the road Gary Spence and his wife Liz evacuated when Halpin raised the alarm.
It's lucky they did as their now-red-stickered single-storey house was submerged by the floodwater.
"We're waiting on the government to make a decision as to whether we're allowed build here again," Spence said.
"Certain areas will be, I think, red-zoned.
"I've lived here all my life. I was born here, and this has never happened in my lifetime, and I've been here just on 77 years."
Spence isn't keen to have to move.
"My wife is also very keen to come back. In fact, we've just had the construction company out looking at where we would put the house.
"It's going to be a blank canvas, and we'll start again."
Gary Spence's garden will be pulled up after it was covered in water, then silt. Photo: RNZ / Jimmy Ellingham
In a statement, Robertson said decisions on managed retreat had to be right, so the process would be careful, thorough and done with the needs of locals in mind.
"There are a range of potential responses on the table.
"Managed retreat - ie not rebuilding in the area - is one possibility, but so are other resilience measures, including building or enhancing stopbanks, changing the structure or location of buildings or building in a different way," he said.
"The government, via the [cyclone recovery] taskforce, expects to have preliminary information to share by the end of April. We will not make any final decisions until we have consulted affected communities."
