While the flood water was receding in most parts of Rotorua this morning, there was still 3m of water in Beau Roger's and Brooke Ellis' backyard on Ngongotaha Rd.
"See my car there, it is floating," Ellis pointed out in the afternoon.
The water began to climb into the couple's property from Ngongotaha Stream, just before dark on Sunday.
They managed to pack up their belongings with their kids and they brought them to the top of their multi-storeyed house.
"We had friends come out and we put all of our stuff in their trucks and stayed in town for the night."
The family live just 50m from the Ngongotaha shops, on the Rotorua side of the Ngongotaha Stream bridge.
On Monday a mix of debris from rubbish, sticks, and mud lined the banks, showing the extent of the swollen stream the day before.
Image 1 of 61: Flooding in Rotorua. Cormac Davis, 12, . Moncur Dr. Photo/Ben Fraser
By midday, Roger and Ellis had rented their own small pump to suck up the water pooled on their property and divert it to the closest drain.
"We've just been here all day pumping water out. We could not just leave it there," Ellis said as she sat on the back of a ute with her husband.
The couple expect it will take most of the week to get rid of all the water on their property by pumping.
They are insured, but it is costing them almost $100 dollars a day to rent the pump.
Roger and Ellis said they had "given up" on Rotorua Lakes Council.
"We called the council, who referred us to FENZ, who referred us back to council, who referred us to the emergency helpline who told us they would call back, but they did not. We called this morning and were told someone was coming out to our place but nobody ever showed," Ellis said.
She said its response was "pretty disappointing" as a ratepayer.
These concerns were put to the council in the mid-afternoon today.
A spokeswoman said, "We will need to liaise with all the relevant parties who, as you can imagine, will be quite busy today".
A disregard for authority could be why those attending court are thumbing their noses.
