Flood waters are smashing through the Bay of Plenty's Matahina Dam.
The dam is on the Rangitaiki River, upstream from the flood-hit and evacuated town of Edgecumbe. The floodwaters are being released to save the dam - but at the cost of the town.
Video shows the power of the water, as a jet of water of over 20 metres tall shoots out for a hundred metres.
"I was told by a regional council staff member in the area that the dam is spilling at record volumes to relieve the pressure of flooding further upstream in the Galatea catchment, to prevent the dam itself overflowing," a witness told Newshub.
"Unfortunately this has contributed to the high river flows downstream through Te Teko and Edgecumbe."
MetService meteorologist Lisa Murray says the amount of rain has been massive.
"A substantial amount of rain has fallen through the region," she says.
"In the last two-and-a -half days Whakatane has recorded 191 millimetres."
Ms Murray says that while the rain has stopped falling in the region, the dam will continue to be under pressure.
"This rain needs to make its way to the coast so rivers and streams could still be quite swollen although the rain has stopped through the region," she says.
"This amount of rain equates to about two months of rain in two-and-a-half days, so quite a significant amount of rain has fallen."
Newshub.
