Clara Cambra showed up at the Red Cross emergency shelter in Wai'anae yesterday afternoon unsure what to do next.

"The water was like a rushing river, and it took my home on Wai'anae Valley Road off its foundation," she said. "I'm looking for somebody who can tell me what I should do."

Cambra wasn't alone in her distress. The American Red Cross' Hawaii Chapter said yesterday that among the more than 200 homes damaged by floods on O'ahu, three dozen were severely damaged or destroyed.

State civil defense said at least 47 homes or other structures suffered major losses, with a preliminary damage estimate of $1.6 million.

Red Cross volunteers in the field, such as John Wachholtz, said those figures could easily increase.

"There's a lot more damage this time than there was in 2006 when we had all that 40 days of rain," said Wachholtz, one of several workers who have assessed damage in O'ahu's hardest hit areas of Wai'anae, Hale'iwa and La'ie since the floods began Thursday and returned again on Saturday.

"That's what I've been hearing from everybody."

That's what he heard from Arlette Tabangcura, 44, who fled with her husband and five children as high waters broke through sandbags they'd piled in and around the home at 84-1092 Farrington Highway. Suddenly, the torrent was rushing through their house, she said.

"We didn't have flooding last time it rained so hard out here," said Tabangcura as she assessed the damage to her three-bedroom apartment, which had a high-water mark more than 3 feet up the interior walls. The current was so strong it had driven holes through the walls, and the pungent smell of mildew wafted through the air inside and out.

Tons of belongings were stacked 7 feet high between the fence and highway outside her home — refrigerators, couches, cabinets, appliances, clothing, scrapbooks and other items — all waiting to be hauled away.

"We lost just about everything," she said.

Several homes were destroyed or severely damaged along Pu'uhulu Road in Wai'anae Valley alone, Wachholtz said.

Farms and farmers in rural Waialua were caught by a flash flood Thursday that reportedly carried away trees, cars, and practically anything else in its path. Sheri Khamlong, 38, who farms vegetables and lei flowers on her small acreage, was literally swept away in the torrent as she clung to a pair of pet chihuahuas.

"The water carried me away, almost to Otake store," she recalled yesterday, somehow able to chuckle about the harrowing experience. "I got caught in the big rush at around 7:30 a.m. The water was already above my chest. My chihuahuas were both pregnant, so I couldn't leave them. So I carried them with me.

"It's so funny, now that I'm still alive."

The dogs survived the ordeal. Somebody fixed her a cup of hot coffee at the store. She lost her vegetable crops, and her home was destroyed, she said — parts of it, along with the kitchen stove, the generator, and other belongings, were washed away and left strewn across the fields.

There was enough of the structure still standing to offer meager shelter. But she and her husband, Ouan Khamlong, have been staying with friends and relatives, and spending a lot of time in their van. They'll try to move to higher ground on the property later, she said.

They had no insurance, and aren't sure what they'll do. But they are grateful for the Red Cross assistance they've received.

"We'll be OK," she said.

Like Wachholtz, volunteer Louis Mahoe traveled around in a large Penske truck filled with just about anything anybody might need.

"I gave them blankets, comfort kits, clean-up kits, tarps for the roof, water, gloves, cleaning solvents, brooms, buckets, trash bags," said Mahoe, who covered the North Shore and parts of Windward O'ahu.

After five days, he said, he's still finding pockets of people whose homes have been damaged, or who are without power or transportation, and who are trying to figure out what to do.

"We're still assessing the damage, and getting the information back to headquarters to let the federal government know what's going on out here. What they're looking for is a count. If the count is real high, the federal government will jump in," he said.

Jennifer Walter, Red Cross manager of response and preparedness, said the assessment was the first part of the relief effort. The second phase will start today. "The next phase of our relief operation will focus on what we call individual assistance," said Walter. "This is where we meet with affected families, interview them about what their specific needs are, and see if there are any services the Red Cross can supply them."

Those services concentrate on taking care of a household's immediate emergency needs.

The Red Cross is part of multi-agency Disaster Assistance and Recovery Centers that will open around O'ahu starting today. "Those will be starting up on various places around the island and will be available to the public through Saturday," Walter said.