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A grandfather desperately searched underwater for his 5-year-old grandson after a flash flood forced chest-high water through their Taranaki home.
The flooded Kapikara stream swept through the home in a valley between Oakura and Okato about midnight Saturday.
The little boy was almost swept away after being pulled from his grandmother's grasp but was saved after the 60-year-old grandfather, a smallholder, dived beneath the "tsunami-like wave" to search for the youngster.
As the water rose towards the ceiling, the trio fled to safety through a window.
Civil Defence spokesman Rusty Ritchie said he understood a farm dam might have burst, releasing a build-up of debris into the stream. A shed, car, tractor and caravan were also picked up by the current and dumped about 100m downstream from the house.
Standing outside the wreckage of their home yesterday, Brenda Cash spoke of how she nearly lost her mother Eunice, 57, stepfather Brian Clarry and her son Henry Bredin.
"Little Henry was staying the night because he wanted to see Brian's new digger arriving tomorrow.
"About midnight Mum heard a loud noise and thought it was another tornado. So she got up, and Brian and her walked to the lounge.
"Brian felt water and mud under his bare feet and said 'this is worse than a tornado'.
"By the time they got back to the bedroom the water was up to their waist. Mum got knocked over by the furniture and the water kept rising. She had Henry but she was shaking and let him go."
Water was up to their necks. "Brian felt Henry under his feet and was able to dive down and get him. There was a mattress floating past and they put him on that."
The trio then escaped through a window and scampered up a hill to dry ground. Freezing, they went to a back yard shed to take shelter and used sacks to keep themselves warm.
"When I first saw my little boy in hospital he was so caked in mud he looked like one of those Romanian orphans with only the whites of his eyes showing," Ms Cash said.
She said they would have suffered hypothermia had a local man not alerted police to the fact the house was in the path of the devastation.
The man, Phillip Brophy, had been a passenger in a car travelling along SH45 when the wave took out a bridge the vehicle was crossing .
Constable Andrew Wong Too, of New Plymouth police, said the car, with three occupants, was picked up and swept away.
Okato Fire Service chief Barry Harvey said the car did a 360-degree rotation as the flood came through.
Ms Cash said investigations would determine what caused the flood. It was thought a dam in a neighbouring property had burst. The dam may have been weakened by the recent extreme weather in Taranaki.
The elderly couple and their grandson were taken to Taranaki Base Hospital. They were released after check-ups, but later Mr Clarry was readmitted for further treatment for cuts to his feet.
Mr and Mrs Clarry had been in the house for 16 years.
Mr Clarry had undergone a heart bypass and was also a diabetic.
The force of the flood wiped out their organic vegetable garden as well as their aviary containing budgies, a magpie and quails. They also lost their chickens and ducks, and pets including a goldfish and a cat.
Henry was quite hyperactive yesterday, said Ms Cash. He did not realise the enormity of what had happened.
