Two people trapped in a house by rising flood waters have been rescued.
The pair were trapped in the house on Troutbeck Rd at Galatea, in the Bay of Plenty, by flood waters halfway up their windows.
Ange Page, one of the people trapped, described waking up early and seeing "lots of water rushing towards the house".
"It pretty much came quite rapidly. Lots of logs."
Miss Page, a teacher at Galatea School, said water started to come into the house and was quickly up to the windowsills.
Her first thoughts turned to how to get out safely - and where, given the house was surrounded by water.
Miss Page said the water was rushing past and vehicles were being pushed around the property, along with chiller shipping containers.
"It was pretty scary, just the volume and how fast it was moving. We were surrounded by water and logs."
She said her partner, Bevan Smith, called his sister, who rang 111 for help.
Miss Page said the fire brigade arrived but was unable to get in.
"They were on the road thinking how the heck do we get in."
She said a neighbour was eventually able to get through with a tractor and she and Mr Smith managed to get out.
"We've got two dogs, they had to come with us."
Miss Page said she had time to "throw on some clothes" before leaving.
"I didn't know what to pack so I took a bag of some random things."
Miss Page hadn't been back to the house but said she thought they'd be looking for a new place to live.
"I was a little bit panicked just seeing the water up to the window."
Firefighters were initially unable to access the property because the road was "completely washed out".
"They can't get out because of the rising flood waters ... the water is halfway up their windows."
The pair were eventually rescued by tractor and one was assessed by ambulance staff. All animals were also rescued.
Emergency services have confirmed the single-storey house is completely flooded. The road is also completely washed out and closed.
The local council is being called to clear about 200m of logs which are blocking the road. Heavy machinery is being brought in to help clear the road and re-direct flood waters.
The couple's neighbour and property landowner, Chelsea Luke, said the rain had since stopped but she could see dark clouds hanging over hills in the distance.
She said the house that was flooded was directly next to a "dry wash", or a creek that is normally dry. However, because of the flash flooding, logs had been been swept down the creek causing a build-up of water which flooded the house.
Ms Luke said she got a call at 7am today advising her that her neighbours were in trouble.
However, she was relieved to see them finally get rescued and that they were okay, although the female occupant had been checked by St John Ambulance staff.
"I was more concerned about them than me ... our [farm] worker called in and said that he could see logs that were about halfway up their house."
She said their property had been in her partner's family for decades and said this morning's deluge was the biggest they had heard of since the 1960s.
Despite floodwaters also trapping her and her daughters on their property, their driveway had since been cleared.
However, there was a large amount of debris, including large logs, and silt lying on their property. A small bridge had also been destroyed, she said.
