Cyclone Gabrielle: Story behind memorable cyclone photograph of upside-down Esk Valley car

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 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’s special 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.

Remarkably, both the Harris and Barber families survived the floods.

It has long been a mystery, including for the Barber whānau, as to whose car it was that featured in the photograph.

However, Harris recently revealed it was her vehicle, while responding to a Hawke’s Bay Today social media post.

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.

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.

“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.