Whanganui East residents Stuart and Julie Kelly don't mind one bit they had to empty their house of its furniture and pack away possessions.
"It wasn't for nothing," the Boydfield Street couple said today as they began moving everything back.
"When we heard the river was predicted to hit 19 metres at Pipiriki we decided to empty the house completely - that would have been devastating for a lot of people," Mr Kelly said.
The Kelly's were among around 200 residents and businesses evacuated as the Whanganui River threatened, at one stage, to flood bigger than at any other time on record.
"We are VERY relieved it didn't."