In a Papamoa driveway, a trailer is loaded with furniture.
Mike Finlayson and Amanda Brown are moving out.
"It started coming up through the kids' room last night," Mr Finlayson says of the water surrounding his home. "We're moving next door until May."
Mr Finlayson, a relief milker, had been renting the home. The children, a 2-year-old girl and 4-year-old boy, had seen the water seeping up through their floorboards after heavy rain on Wednesday night.
The water had dropped 10cm in a few hours since the rain stopped, but was still lapping at the sides of the house and was close to the top of a trampoline in the front yard.