He left behind most of his belongings and his 13-year-old cat, Dani.
After driving around various small towns with little knowledge of what was going on, the two men ended up at a Red Cross station at Whakatane War Memorial Hall at 2.30pm.
Mr Smith was one of three people to sleep on stretchers in the hall last night - his mate slept in the car, and another couple slept inside.
"I hope to get some more stuff out today and feed the cat," Mr Smith said.
The stretcher had been "comfortable enough" and the food, including sandwiches and pizza, pretty decent.
Flooding around Whakatane was "the worst I've seen".
After talking with the Bay of Plenty Times, Mr Smith stood up to have breakfast in the hall.
He was not too bothered about the situation.
"It's nature."
"You've got to put up with it, don't you?"