The town was severely flooded last July, and after the past six months was spent rebuilding, low-lying houses were again evacuated last week but did not flood.
Then, on Thursday, most were caught by surprise when the Buller River was swollen by record overnight flooding and about 10 houses were flooded.
"The local roading network was extensively damaged.
"People are traumatised," former Westport mayor and firefighter of 55 years, Pat O’Dea, said yesterday.
"Who the hell will want to move to Westport now, or buy a business? They are destroying the economy."
Others had similar sentiments, though all were grateful for the efforts of emergency services.
Some were confused as to why Westport had been evacuated last week when flooding did not eventuate, whereas this time everyone was caught off-guard.
The Buller District Council said yesterday it could only rely on the experts, who put out an orange alert this week, but a red alert last week.
Nicky Campey said she was monitoring the Te Kuha site, at the start of the Buller Gorge, and phoned Buller emergency services at 11.30pm on Wednesday asking for direction.
She said when she told the man on the phone, "You don’t realise just how bad this is", he hung up.
She then got in the car and drove around, and could see people self-evacuating. When she drove past the Civil Defence base, no-one was there.
"I don’t think they realised."
Deputy mayor Sharon Roche said hindsight was a great thing and they had to rely on forecasters, who had issued an orange alert.
Even the huge preparations for the red alert the week before would not have helped Reefton and northern Buller, which were hit this time, Ms Roche said.
Civil Defence controller Te Aroha Cook said many people were hung up on the fact the MetService did not put out a red alert.
"It comes down to, whether we like or not, those events are becoming more frequent. People need to start thinking about taking the appropriate action."
She acknowledged anxiety levels were high in Westport, but did not want people to get complacent.
Mr O’Dea said both the regional council and Buller council should be disbanded.
He had warned the July flood would hit the town hard, even taking out full-page newspaper advertisements, but no-one had listened.
He was concerned too much emphasis now was on "so-called experts in Wellington playing on computers".
Mr O’Dea also questioned whether floodwalls were the answer, as even the experts said they would have to be raised.
A floodwall at Westport airport, stretching just over 1km, cost $2.5million, and ringing the town with floodwalls would come at an "unbelievable cost".
The West Coast Regional Council strongly disagrees and says floodwalls are the answer.
— The Greymouth Star
