Sitting on top of his 4WD Hilux ute in the dark surrounded by floodwater, an Otematata man felt a wave of relief when he saw a police car arrive.
As the water rose late on Sunday and into Monday morning, Carl Carlson was phoned by police warning him the nearby Otematata River was rising fast. They advised him to get out.
With his two dogs in the ute, he took off but it was not long before it became stuck in floodwaters and he was going nowhere with the water rising fast.
''It [the water] came out of nowhere. I tried to exit the gateway and it took me. I was in this water - it's never come down like that before.''
In total darkness, the vehicle floated for a while before it became snagged and stuck fast.
The water in the cab was ''well above the dashboard'' before Mr Carlson managed to open the window and clamber on to the roof to wait for help.
He was relieved when Senior Constable Craig Bennett, of Kurow, arrived and set up
some lighting. Once Snr Const Bennett believed it was safe, he waded out to the stuck ute and helped Mr Carlson to safety.
The two dogs were then rescued using a dinghy.
An Environment Canterbury (ECan) spokeswoman described the flood as a ''significant'' event on the Otematata River. One gauge recorded 140mm of rainfall over a 20 hour period, mostly on Sunday.
''Most of the rain fell in a period of just six to seven hours from Sunday evening up to midnight. This is an extreme amount of rainfall for this catchment - currently estimated to be close to a 100 year rainfall.
''The river rose very rapidly and peaked at 11.30pm Sunday at 450cumecs. This is the largest flow in that river since the damaging South Canterbury floods of 1986.''
The peak flow was almost 100cumecs more than the Waitaki River's median flow.
The river also rampaged through the Otematata Boat Harbour camping ground which was extensively flooded. About 1m of water went through the camp at the flood's peak.
An evacuation of the 30 caravans on site was organised by Waitaki District Council staff, but that evacuation has come under some criticism.
Otematata's West Rd Shop'n Cafe owner and operator Warren Aitken said he thought the caravan evacuation was disorganised.
He ended up with a caravan and three cars parked outside his business, with people spending the night in their vehicles.
Council recreation manager Erik van der Spek commended the work of his campsite manager and others who helped with the evacuation.
He said ECan staff told the council rivers were rising and staff jumped into action to make sure people were safe.
Mr van der Spek believed the communication and river protection work put in place last year prevented lives from being at risk during the flash flood.
An Otematata local, and one of the flood clean-up volunteers, Tania Cochrane wanted to know why civil defence staff were not called out.
A council spokeswoman said civil defence contacted police to offer assistance, but police were ''quite confident'' they had the situation under control and did not need extra help.
