Normally, rescuers use fire trucks and ambulances. But the flooding in Edgecumbe means people are instead turning to boats to help people escape.
The entire town has had to be evacuated after a massive amount of rain fell in the last few days.
Bay of Plenty locals Brandon Crowley and his cousin Doug Looney were called in from Kawerau to join in with rescue efforts.
They were one of five boats cruising the streets to help those still trapped.
"There's water halfway up people's windows. There are houses that will just be a huge write-off," he told Newshub.
"There was a big community effort as far as the boats went... We were working together as a team as much as we could to do what we could."
Mr Crowley used to live in the town and said seeing the scale of the damage was "devastating".
"The footage from the helicopter is good, you can see the broad aspect, but it's not until you get down and you're driving up a driveway in a boat instead of a car, knocking on doors to see if people are there [ you see the scale]."
At one point Mr Looney and Mr Crowley came across a man on standing on a fence, surrounded by floodwater. He had been on the night shift and woke up on Thursday morning "with water lapping at his pillow and his bed".
"He had climbed out onto the fence outside and we happened to be coming past, so we picked him up. That water there would've been around chest-deep," Mr Crowley said.
"It was something else, that was for sure."
He and Mr Looney will be taking to the streets again on Friday to help with more evacuations.
For many residents his video will be a grim look back at their home, with floodwaters reaching up to and in places surpassing fences.
Bay of Plenty's Matahina Dam was released on Thursday, sacrificing the town in order to save the dam.
The region has suffered almost two months' worth of rain in the last two-and-a-half days, according to MetService.
Newshub.
