Six months on: Memories Napier floods still raw for Wellesley Rd resident

Napier resident June Clark still struggles with little reminders of the last year's flooding in November. Photo / Warren Buckland

Six months after the Napier floods, even the smallest things take June Clark back to that "sleepless" night.

The 79-year-old lives alone on Wellesley Rd, Napier South.

As the rain started falling on the night of November 9, the water in her garden kept rising.

"Water was coming over my driveway," she said.

"I didn't know how high it was going to come up."

A power cut meant she had to keep checking the water levels by torch throughout the night.

"It didn't go down until 2am. I spent a sleepless night."

By morning her backyard was covered by about 12 inches (30cm) of water and was up to the first step of her deck.

June Clark had a sleepless night after Wellesley Rd backyard was covered in about 12 inches of water the night of the November floods. Photo / Warren Buckland

"I know other people were much worse off than me."

Clark, who lived in the house for 17 years with her late husband, said she'd never seen it so bad.

"I'm still trying to put my garden to rights."

She said she tries not to think about that night, but little things remind her of it.

She regularly listens to the radio at night when she can't sleep - she loves the mix of classical music played by The Wireless Station Hawke's Bay on 1530AM.

However, a pre-recorded segment which features the weather forecast from the night of the flood fills her with a "sense of dread and anger".

Hawke's Bay Today contacted Robert Jeffares, of The Wireless Station Hawke's Bay, who found a "rogue" segment which had somehow been left on the radio and this was being removed.

The flooding remains a challenging memory for many Napier residents with 30 households still in temporary accommodation service (TAS) housing as of early May.

Repair works on several sets of steps on Napier Hill and two Napier roads - Karaka Rd and Hooker Ave – have also yet to be completed.

Figures from the Insurance Council of NZ show that the floods had the highest number of claims relating to extreme weather events in the country last year.

Of the $73 million losses reported, Napier Mayor Kirsten Wise said about 75 per cent of these had been paid out.