The trauma of the weekend floods had some Wanganui people in tears as they made their way home yesterday.
While most of the flood-stricken properties along Anzac Parade remain out of bounds, a few owners had a brief first look at the devastation wrought by the record-setting floods when the Whanganui River breached stopbanks on Saturday.
One resident, who did not want to be identified, said he was overcome looking into his property. While his house is about 100 metres back from Anzac Parade and several metres higher, it showed the ravages of the flooding.
The high-water mark was just under the windowsills. Property from the basement was floating in the backyard.
He and his family have lived in the Nile St home for about 20 years but he was too upset to talk further to the Chronicle.