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"We went up to Dawson Drive and came home. Water was out on the road about halfway to the centre line, about ankle deep and the playground across the road was flooded."
Mr Elphick's home weather station recorded 113.3mm over the 24 hours to midday yesterday.
Flooding closed State Highway 36 at Awahou, between Rotorua and Tauranga, yesterday morning. It was opened to one lane about midday.
Lynmore resident James Alexander of Ray White said he had never seen so much stormwater running off the hill near his Janet Place home.
"We have a big farm above us and about 10.30am we saw all the water like three rivers coming down. Hilton Rd was completely flooded, the culverts and curves were submerged. Stormwater drains just couldn't cope with so much water in such a short time," he said.
"We have never seen it this bad before and we spoke to a few locals, who have been here for 7-8 years, who have never seen flooding this bad here."
Water levels reached knee height in parts of Kawaha Point for Roana Bennett and her Aquarius Drive neighbours. Nearby, Waiwhero Stream had broken its banks that morning.
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"I've lived here all my life and our long-term residents say that this is the worst they have seen," she said. "The drainage system was fine but the load of water came down from upstream."
Rotorua District Council water solutions director Andrew Bell said the heavy rain and the amount of flooding that followed was unusual for Rotorua.
"It's some years since we have experienced anything like these conditions. [Tuesday] night and yesterday morning had a sustained period of intense rainfall over the entire Rotorua catchment area.
"It's more common for Rotorua to get shorter bursts of more isolated heavy rain, which will sometimes produce short-term flash flooding but then quickly dissipate," he said.
"[Yesterday] we had rain for several hours across a wide area, resulting in more surface flooding than usual where we would normally expect it, and a number of slips and debris being washed on to roads in various spots across the district.
"However, Rotorua usually recovers quickly from rain events with our network of stormwater systems, good draining volcanic soils, and rivers and lakes that allow flood waters to escape.
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"We have no reports at this point of any serious damage to infrastructure, which good news." The council is advising people to stay away from drains, streams and other water courses for the next two or three days, as there is the risk of some water being contaminated.
WeatherWatch.co.nz head analyst Philip Duncan said there was still a chance of heavy showers this morning.
