The West Coast has been hit by flooding for the second time in six months - prompting the second-highest level of weather warnings.
MetService issued an orange warning forecasting significant rain for the West Coast over the weekend.
Nervous residents watched floodwaters creep a little too close to comfort as prolonged downpours made for a sleepless night.
"Probably about 11 o'clock it was in the yard and by 2 o'clock we were getting the vehicles out," Greymouth resident Marie McCrudden says.
As they prepared to move out to drier ground, eels were already moving in.
"Only when it started bubbling up through the floorboards we were gonna get out," McCrudden says.
"It was quite deep around the back, it was right up to the top of that window. You could see the tide mark along the fence."
It's becoming a common occurrence for Coasters - it's the second bout of flooding for the West Coast in less than six months and was enough to activate Civil Defence.
"We set up anticipating problems with the weather event as we often get problems over here on the coast," West Coast Civil Defence group controller John Canning says.
The Western Ranges received up to 190 millimetres of rain. Slips closed several sections of State Highway 6 and surface flooding made driving dangerous.
"Fortunately the predictions were good but it wasn't as serious as we were planning for," Canning says.
The rain stopped just in time.
"The carpet's dampish but it didn't actually bubble through," McCrudden says.
A lucky escape this time round.
