Floodwaters lick front door of trapped Waikato resident

Several rural Waikato residents were trapped in their homes by rising floodwaters this morning.

Although the rain has eased and flooding subsided, residents in the west Ngaruawahia area of Waingaro are bracing themselves for more bad weather as they wait for the rest of Cyclone Debbie to hit this afternoon.

Mother-of-four Melissa Edgecumbe said her sister called at 6.30am to say she couldn't get through because the road was flooded.

Waingaro Rd was impassable this morning. Photo/Holly Pavlovich

"So I got out of bed, looked out to my drive and was like 'oh my God' and [floodwaters] came closer and closer and closer."

Her sister arrived and had to wade through knee-deep water, she said.

Edgecumbe said she ran outside and cleared out her garage, which had begun filling with water, and moving her belongings inside the house.

Image 1 of 16: Cyclone Debbie causes wide-spread damage. Pictured the damaged Lotus walkway in Brown's Bay, Auckland. Photo / Supplied

However, the water continued to rise and was licking at her front door when the rain subsided about 8am.

The normally 'ankle deep stream' outside Holly Pavlovich's house turned into a raging river. Photo/Holly Pavlovich

"It's gone down now. Me and my kids just finished cleaning [the garage] out."

She's not keen on another night at her house so she'll pack up her kids - aged 5, 8, 10 and 11 - and stay at her dad's house tonight.

However, the children weren't scared.

"They're all right. They've been brought up in it, we've lived here all our lives."

She still wasn't keen on more rain arriving.

"I just hope it doesn't rain when it's meant to at 3pm because it will flood even more.

"It's pretty black out here at the moment. I'd say we're going to get it again."

Her neighbours, Holly Pavlovich and Anthony Laurie, who live on Waingaro Rd, could only watch as the usually ankle-deep stream alongside their house slowly began rising.

Anthony Laurie (left) and friend got to work with chainsaws to help clear a large slip on Waingaro Rd. Photo/Holly Pavlovich

Laurie estimates it rose about 5m, making it the highest he'd ever seen it in the 28 years he'd lived there.

Despite the road being flooded, he went for a drive and came across a large slip blocking Waingaro Rd before another landslide happened before his eyes. It included a large tree, so Laurie used a chainsaw to clear the road.

A large slip on Waingaro Rd. Photo/Holly Pavlovich

"There's quite a few severe slips on Wilton-Colliers Rd. It was pretty flooded but has subsided a bit."

He said with Waingaro Rd being closed, the only other route to Hamilton would take between two to three hours.