"People were turning me away at the road in from Awakeri, so I tried to go a different way and that road was covered in water."
After three attempts to make it past the cordon he was finally able to make it into town from Awakeri Rd.
"As I came across the bridge I could see the water," he said.
"It was just a massive wall of water pouring in from the river."
Mr Warren said he was determined to rescue 15-year-old Sumo and 2-year-old Nelly.
"All I was worried about was my dogs," he said.
"Locked in a cage out the back, all I could picture was them running out of space and drowning."
After rescuing his own dogs Mr Warren also checked his neighbours' animals.
"I ran around and checked the neighbours to make sure they were okay," he said.
"It would be a horrible feeling, for those people whose animals didn't get out."
After dropping his dogs safely away from the flood Mr Warren tried to help others.
"I tried to get back to help my workmate, but it was failed attempts, I couldn't get back into the town," he said.
"I'm just crashing at a friend's until I can get back in."
Like a lot of Edgecumbe residents Mr Warren doesn't know yet how badly damaged his home is.
"It's more the rain next week I'm worried about," he said.
His friend Hayden Turnbull was worried about his own animals, the 330 cows on his farm.
"It was a pretty big day yesterday shifting all of the bails," he said.
"There's plenty of water, and there's not going to be much grass left after it's gone."
Mr Turnbull said he could not see the water going down any time soon.
"There are entire fences and troughs that are completely underwater."
