Rotorua resident Curtis Hemana can vividly describe the image of his living room submerged in water yesterday, family items floating eerily on the surface.
The city still remained in a state of emergency this morning, with many residents like Mr Hemana returning to their flood-ravaged homes.
"We set this place up so our kids can just be who they are and this is normally a toy area," Mr Hemana said.
"It's crazy that they were all just floating around and they just sat there and yeah, that's a brand new birthday present," Mr Hemana said, pausing between words.
"It was pretty emotional, like you're standing here, you open the door and everything you see on the ground now is bobbing like a vulnerable boat on the ocean, popping like a cork, like the champagne, boof, and just bobbing up and down, just stuck there."
And each soggy room had a different memory.
Ngongotaha evacuees have been moved to emergency welfare at Rotorua's events centre. (Source: Other)
"I sit on the floor here with this blanket. This blanket is part of the warmth in this area and when I came back in and saw it in the water I was devastated really, because it's symbolic of the bond I have with my children."
Heavy rain caused at least 30 homes to be evacuated in Ngongotaha yesterday, and 32 people were trapped at the Agrodome.
Evacuees were moved to emergency welfare at the Energy Events Centre in the Rotorua township.
However, things were much calmer this morning, Mayor Steve Chadwick told TVNZ 1's Breakfast, following the rain which saw hundreds of calls to emergency services.
'It's very surreal, it's quite calm at the moment. We had rain during the night but nothing like the extreme rain fall yesterday morning," she said.
People had been "incredibly resiliant", Mayor Chadwick said, praising their quick move to safety as it became apparent they were in danger from rising floodwaters.
SHARE ME