Devastation, frustration, helplessness and loss were written on the faces of Waimarama residents living in Gillies Crescent, as they tried to put their lives back together after floodwater ravaged their homes.
On Wednesday night, a creek behind the street swelled to a torrent and broke its banks.
Water ran through the properties and on to the street, forming a fast-moving river.
On Thursday, the water receded as fast as it came in and people were left to grasp the extent of the damage.
George Ashcroft and Marina Richter were horrified when they woke to find their bed and breakfast accommodation swamped by metres of water.
"In the middle of the night I heard the fire siren, I am one of the local volunteers so I got up, but when I looked outside, I saw the water halfway up the wall of the chalet," Mr Ashcroft said.
"The accommodation was fully furnished, now it is all in disarray, the fence down there is six feet tall, but there is two feet of silt pushed up against it," he said. "We have lost it all."
The family evacuated their home on Wednesday and were taken by boat to spend the night with friends.
Yesterday, Ms Richter was able to get into town to drop their three foster children aged 8, 5 and 2, off with family.
"It was quite frightening for them and stress levels at this point are high, they don't need that."
Also living on the property were two dogs and three cats, all of whom survived, but 18 of their 20 chickens drowned and Ms Richter's beehives were swept away with the current.
There is no sign of the organic vegetable patch and orchard, which were at the back of the property.
In their place are beds of silt and pools of water.
Mr Ashcroft is a carpenter by trade and built the two bed and breakfast buildings from scratch - but since the storm he has been unable to find any of his tools.
Layers of thick clay-like silt cover almost every inch of the property, except the main house, which was built on higher ground.
"We are just lucky to have the house, there are people much worse off, I am sure."
Down the road, neighbours faced much the same reality.
Water had seeped into low-lying areas, destroying everything in its path and uplifting heavy objects.
Hawke's Bay Today watched as a car was pulled from a back property where it had slipped down a steep cliff as water washed the land out from under it.
Erica Snow was not home when the worst of the flooding hit and returned on Thursday to find her backyard in chaos.
"It was a miserable day [on Wednesday] so we had gone to Napier, it was so rainy that we stayed that night at a friend's down the way, we woke up to everyone telling us to look outside."
"We couldn't get home because the bridge was washed out."
Panic set in as Ms Snow thought of her dog, Louie, who was tied up to a kennel outside.
"I didn't know what to expect when we came back and saw the mess, but he had slipped his collar and escaped - the kennel is nowhere to be seen."
Royal Fire Chief Peter Morell said the focus had now shifted from rescue to recovery.
"Most people have had their power and water returned so that takes one stress away, now we have to concentrate on clearing the silt," he said.
"There was a meeting this morning for select residents and people from the school and marae to assess where to go from here."
It was still unclear what would be done with all of the silt which had built up on Gillies Crescent properties.Power in the Waimarama settlement will be cut from 9.30am to noon today for repairs.
Clean up starts: "We've lost it all"
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