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A steady stream of tourists and locals trickled into Tangiwai yesterday to witness the aftermath of Sunday's lahar as the clean-up began in earnest for the few farmers affected.
For 93-year-old Doris Fetzer of Ohakune, the collapse of the tephra dam at Mt Ruapehu's Crater Lake brought back painful memories of the 1953 disaster.
She felt compelled to return to the area yesterday to see the mess left behind.
"Why are these people all here, what has drawn them here?" she said.
"It is Tangiwai. I can relate to this, I was here."
She spoke of that Christmas Eve, when she sat with two women who lost their daughters that night.
"It was a dreadful time.
"I feel this is a godsend in a way. It was a good thing it happened in the daytime this time around and that nobody lost their life.
"This is nature at its greatest force. I would love to be able to see the slice left open at the top of the mountain."
American tourist Jean Lavellee said she and her husband changed their plans when they heard news of the lahar.
"We've changed our Rotorua plans and are going to now spend two days here.
"This is the highlight of our trip. We are just learning what a lahar is and now we're hearing about the history of this area."
Australian tourist Denise O'Toole said seeing the path the lahar had cut through was fantastic.
"We seem to have timed things well."
Ohakune Kura Kaupapa school principal Korty Wilson, of Ngati Rangi, said she brought her 19 pupils down to the site so the children could take in a piece of history.
"People have been on edge and were a bit uncertain about how the system would go, but for us we never felt any fear of it.
"I think it's wonderful, actually, it's nice to be here and it's good for the children to see."
Roger Peters of Taranaki, who was also at Tangiwai in 1953, said the area resembled the scene 53 years ago, "minus the carriages and bodies. It's uncanny, really".
Waiouru resident John Archer said scientists had got it 100 per cent right.
"It's a shame they had to close the road. We could have sat on the bridge here and watched it.
"The interesting thing is that it came right up to the 5m warning sign. I notice the memorial is still there but the toilets have been ripped from their foundations. They were embedded in concrete and now there's nothing there."
