Memories of Matata terror still vivid

Michele and Paul Beach with baby Jasmine, daughter Ruby and (rear) son Ethan, in what remains of their home. Picture / Alan Gibson

Four weeks ago today the the coastal settlement of Matata was deluged with rivers of mud, logs and boulders.

Memories of the terrifying event remain vivid for the Beach family, whose home was shoved off its foundations with the five of them inside and slammed into another house.

Now, Paul, Michele and their children Ethan, Ruby and baby Jasmine are squashed into a two-bedroom flat on the main street, overlooking the "galloon".

That's what locals call the lagoon behind the sand dunes since it was swamped with silt and debris - including garages, campervans and cars.

"It's only got a gallon of water left," said Paul Beach.

Most of his belongings are in the galloon, including 11 of the 12 vehicles he owned. A mechanic by trade, he has managed to salvage one, a 1994 Holden Vectra.

"Where do I go from here with no tools? I'm stymied."

Every day he goes down to the ruins of the family's mauve villa to try to salvage books, toys and furniture.

The task has been more difficult since he injured his hip running from the wreck during an earthquake. The regular quakes being felt in the town threaten to topple parts of the structure still standing.

The Beaches have also had to deal with thieves stealing some of the few possessions they do have left.

Michele Beach lost a chandelier crystal she had for 20 years, which was hanging in the kitchen window.

"You feel gutted, mate. Isn't it enough that we've been through what we've been through?" she said.

Ethan, 13, said he relived the horror of the disaster, particularly the noises and the feeling of the house moving, every time he went to the villa.

"I replay them in my mind."

Michele Beach credited the old house, which she dreamed would one day appear in House & Garden magazine, with saving their lives.

"If I'd listened to everyone else and built a flash new house, we'd all be dead."

Now, though, she does not know what the future holds.

"I was living the dream for a while, but now it's gone. It's gone into the galloon with everything else."

Paul Beach also finds the future difficult to imagine.

"I feel like a 100-year-old man."