Katrina Harris at the site in Eskdale where her car crashed through a house in the floods, which became a powerful image from the cyclone. She is pictured in her new vehicle. Photo / Paul Taylor
Katrina Harris at the site in Eskdale where her car crashed through a house in the floods, which became a powerful image from the cyclone. She is pictured in her new vehicle. Photo / Paul Taylor
The owner of a car swept 200 metres down Esk Valley before crashing through the side of a house - becoming one of the most powerful images from Cyclone Gabrielle - says it still reminds her of how lucky they were to survive.
Katrina Harris’ upside-down Mazda href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/hawkes-bay-today/news/cyclone-gabrielle-iconic-photo-car-smashed-into-chris-barbers-flooded-esk-valley-home-as-he-and-his-family-climbed-for-their-lives/3XMRSWFQKJHOZEUPA2M7NBKM3U/" target="_blank">smashed through the side of a home in Eskdale, north of Napier, during the early hours of February 14 last year.
The car’s prone state showed the true force of the cyclone, which swept through the once-idyllic collection of lifestyle properties in that valley.
A photo of it, by Hawke’s Bay Today chief photographer Warren Buckland, featured on the front page of the Herald and the Hawke’s Bay Today’sspecial free edition in the days after the cyclone.
Fellow Eskdale residents the Barber family were huddled inside the ceiling of their home when the car came through their garage in the raging floodwaters.
Harris, who ran Doggy Farmstay in Eskdale, said it had been swept off her driveway in the floods, after being parked in front of her house.
The front page of Hawke's Bay Today's special free edition in the days after the cyclone last February. Photo / NZME
She said her family returned to Eskdale a day or so after the floods, after being evacuated to Bay View Hotel, and that was when she first saw it.
“I thought ‘lucky we were in the house hanging onto walls - if we were outside, that could have been us swept away’.”
Harris said the powerful image still makes her realise how fortunate her family and dogs were.
Katrina Harris says the image reminds her of how fortunate they were to survive. Photo / Paul Taylor
“When I see it, it is like ‘f***, we were so lucky to survive’,” she said, of the photograph. “It just depicts the force and the ferocity of water.”
There were five people in Harris and husband John’s house during the floods, as well as nine dogs, all of whom survived, despite the floodwaters reaching near neck height before receding.
Her car was insured and was eventually taken away. Harris has since bought a station wagon to replace it, which is a great fit for her new dog-walking business in the Napier suburb of Te Awa, Doggy Treks.
She said her and her husband may move to the likes of Bay View in the future, to be close to the community they enjoyed in Esk Valley.
Gary Hamilton-Irvine is a Hawke’s Bay-based reporter who covers a range of news topics including business, councils, breaking news and cyclone recovery. He formerly worked at News Corp Australia.
