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A search for missing livestock in the dark nearly cost Waitetuna Valley farmer Mike Moss his life yesterdayas flash flooding near Raglan caused damage and disruption to the area.
Mr Moss told the Herald he had to swim for his life when his tractor slipped into a hollow and was engulfed by a rapidly rising river on his farm.
On his return to high ground he realised his farm worker and dog, Eanie, were still trapped on the tractor.
"I had to go back out to take a lifejacket to my farm worker, who was hanging on the edge."
Eanie was inside the tractor's cab, breathing in a pocket of air at the top, as the river level kept rising.
Shortly after Eanie was rescued the dog followed the men back in to the water and was swept downstream, but made it to safety.
"It could have been a tragedy, we were lucky," Mr Moss said.
"It doesn't hit you until a little while afterwards. The speed with which the water was rising was scary. That's the power of nature."
The $80,000 tractor had been written off by an insurance assessor, said Mr Moss' wife, Jenny.
The flash flooding in the region appeared to have hit the Moss property hardest.
Almost 110mm of rain fell on their farm.
Mr Moss estimated up to another $30,000 of damage had been done to fences and land.
He feared that four young calves had been swept away together with a dozen lambs, but they were found alive on neighbouring properties.
Four hay paddocks were destroyed, however, and two maize crops and fencelines damaged.
Debris, including rubbish and plastic containers from neighbouring properties, was strewn across wide sections of farmland.
Cogswell Rd resident Darren Merito described yesterday's event as the worst flooding in the area for 15 years.
A local fencer said thousands of dollars of repair work would be needed to fencelines throughout the Waitetuna and Otonga valleys.
Auckland woman Susan Hawthorne was travelling to Raglan about 4.30am when the deluge trapped her on State Highway 23.
As she tried to cross a bridge at the intersection of Cogswell Rd, her Mitsubishi Galant stalled.
She and her dog began wading out of the water but the cold and wet sent her back to the vehicle for shelter.
"I tried to get my mobile to work but couldn't.
"At that stage I was starting to panic. It was dark and freezing, and I was in an isolated area."
The car began to move as the water continued to rise.
"I think that was the scariest part. I'm still recovering from shock," Ms Hawthorne told the Herald from her Raglan office at Ray White real estate.
"I didn't realise what was over the road and how deep it was."
She was rescued by a policeman who was checking slips in the area.
