Jet boats struggled to make headway against the force of the water flowing through Edgecumbe streets after the Rangitaiki River breached its banks.
A three-foot wall of water ripped through the town, with residents of the worst-hit zone evacuated by Defence Force Unimog trucks and jet boats. Photos of fully submerged cars and street signs half underwater show the devastation that has hit the town.
A state of emergency has been declared in the area, with the mayor calling the breach a "one-in-500-year-event".
"It was incredible, the flow of water through the town," according to one lifesaver who did not want to be named. "We had to struggle to go against the flow in some places, depending which street we were on - we were barely making any headway."
Eleven jet boats were used in the evacuation, with surf lifesavers coming from Papamoa, Whakatane, Omanu and Mt Maunganui.
