Hawke's Bay driver swims from swamped vehicle on Elsthorpe Road

Sophie Josephine's car at the site where it was nearly completely swallowed in floodwaters on Elsthorpe Rd. Photo / Kylee Hodgetts

It took a panicked shoulder charge for Sophie Josephine to escape the inside of her car when it was floating, waterlogged and submerged in dark floodwaters.

She was driving to work about 5.30am on Thursday on Elsthorpe Rd when she rounded a corner and saw too late that the Central Hawke's Bay road had flooded.

"I was going about 70km/h because it was quite heavy rain and I came around the corner just past where Atua Rd is and I saw the water but couldn't stop in time."

She said the car immediately died when she hit the water because it had an electric start.

Sophie Josephine was lucky to escape after her car filled with floodwaters on Thursday. Photo / Supplied

"I noticed that the car was moving and I kind of went into panic stations a bit and struggled to open the door because the water was already coming in, but I finally did and the rest of the water rushed in and I was able to get out."

Josephine said it took a bit of pushing from both her arms and legs on the door before a final charge using her shoulder was enough to get her outside the car.

"When I couldn't open my car door it was the worst, it was the worst feeling, I was like 'oh my god'."

The drained remains of the interior of Sophie Josephine's flooded car. Photo / Supplied

"It was pitch black and I couldn't see anything, but I must have been over the drain because when I got out of the car I couldn't touch the ground."

Josephine said she swam around until she could touch the ground and got out of the water and rang the fire department who cordoned off the area and took her to the fire station.

"Luckily my phone was waterproof."

She said one of the firemen told her he had lost his own car in that exact spot five years ago and another person had commented on a post she made about the incident saying they had also lost their car in that spot.

"I've only been out here six months and I didn't realise that was something that happened out here. It must be a bit of a problem area."

She said her transportation for her 45-minute work commute to Tikokino in the interim would be a Ford Transit campervan she had.

"It's a bit of a beast to drive."

Her car was still stuck in the flood when she last checked mid-morning Thursday.