Flooding in Edgecumbe forcing evacuation of residents. Photo/Andrew Warner.
The water sweeping around and into his property was so forceful it took away some of his back fence.
A rescue truck came to evacuate him - he was lifted onto the back of the truck and taken to the safety of Edgecumbe Memorial Hall, but his dogs were left behind.
Mr McConnachie was forced to leave his dogs to fend for themselves as water soaked the flooring of his house.
"When the floors get damp it turns Weet-Bix-like - if anyone tried to walk on it they might fall through," he said.
The Bay of Plenty Times caught up with an anxious Mr McConnachie at the Memorial Hall.
He was worried about the fate of his animals and shaken by how fast the water rose.
Mr McConnachie, like many others in Edgecumbe, was uninsured and has no idea what he would go back to once the flooding subsided.
"By the time I get back I'm sure there will be far more damage."
Another resident, who wished to remain unnamed, had lived in Edgecumbe for less than three weeks, moving with her family from the United Kingdom.
No one but their three labradors were home when the water began rapidly rising - the children had been dropped off at school, and her husband had commuted to work in Tauranga.
The woman rushed to rescue her dogs stranded at their College Rd home but was turned away at the cordon.
She was not the only one shedding tears at the cordon, a Bay of Plenty Times reporter at the scene said. There were groups of people hoping to get through to get their pets, belongings or medication but were turned away.
At the Memorial Hall-turned evacuation centre, people were in what they were wearing when the stopbank burst and evacuations began. The reporter said most people did not have a chance to grab anything; only a few were able to grab extra items of clothing.
