Locals in the Hawke's Bay town of Wairoa are feeling a heightened sense of rain anxiety, as the East Coast grapples with yet another round of flooding and thunderstorms that struck the area hard overnight.
Around 180mm fell in places with homes, marae and schools once again waterlogged.
Nuhaka residents were wading through floodwaters surrounding their property assessing the damage today, with building inspectors and welfare officials also onsite.
It comes as the East Coast was again pummelled by a relentless storm, leading to the need for daring rescues.
Wairoa Civil Defence controller Juanita Savage reported several rescues and multiple evacuations through the night.
"We needed to rescue three people from two cars that were stuck in floodwater," she said.
"'When it rains, do we need to evacuate?' That's their first port of call. So yes, there's a lot more anxiety.
"I'm fielding a lot more calls when it rains, asking if we need to evacuate and what our plans are."
Nuhaka resident Rose Karangaroa said she had never seen flooding like the deluge she experienced overnight, calling it "unusual for this region".
"You don't sleep very much, wake most of the night listening to the rain," she said.
"We've never had floods like this before, not in the 50 years that I've been here."
Footage taken on Kaimoana Rd shows the impact of the rain, which has seen some properties evacuated and roads closed. (Source: Supplied)
The aftermath of the storm has left key roads closed due to landslips and toppled trees. Travelling around Wairoa farm roads has become a significant challenge.
Wairoa sheep and beef farmer Mathew Swann said it’s tiring constantly clearing up his roads.
"Cyclone Gabrielle, which we thought was a one in a 500-year event, seems to happen every other month lately," Swann said.
“Our farm sits beside a forestry block which we now get huge logs downstream and along the roads whenever it rains as they’re currently harvesting."
The makeshift Nuhaka School has also been damaged by the latest weather event. This further compounds the struggles faced by the community, as the original school site is still out of action due to the damage caused by Cyclone Gabrielle.
Nuhaka School principal Raelene McFarlane said the constant rain made it hard for the community to find normality again.
"Every time it rains you see the kids look out the window and their faces drop and change colour. The rain anxiety is real," she said.
"We had only just got everyone to a safe new school and now we are flooded again."
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