A tight-knit community has come to the rescue of a group of motorists stranded by a collapsed road.
A section of Thames Coast Rd has closed after Friday's gale-force winds and king tides.
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Philip Kerr, 42, says he is only five minutes from home but himself and around a dozen others on Patui Ave likely won't make it tonight.
"Part of the road either side of us has been completely washed away," Mr Kerr told Newshub.
"What's left looks like a beach… rocks, debris, boulders everywhere."
Mr Kerr says he took the same route this morning and it looked fine, but coming back it was "a million times worse".
Resident Suzette Major went down for a look earlier today, and told Newshub when the king tide came in at around 10:45am it "got underneath the ashfelt and lifted the road".
"There was debris everywhere already which is enough of an issue to weed your way through.
"But now road itself has collapsed… it looks like an earthquake."
Since arriving home she posted the situation on a local Facebook group, confident residents would be happy to help.
She was right.
"It's been brilliant. I can't ask for anything else," Mr Kerr told Newshub.
One woman, he says, has offered up the bottom floor of her home along with tea and coffee.
Another local knocked on his car window and offered dinner and a place to sleep for the night.
"All of us are in good hands… safe and sound."
Ms Major says people who have lived in the area their whole lives told her they've never seen anything like it.
"We're talking in the last 20, 25 years."
"I wouldn't be surprised if there's more stranded around at Thornton Bay and Whakatiti Bay."
"We certainly weren't anticipating the big swing in the wind and the mixture of the tide," Civil Defence controller Garry Towler says.
"It certainly has smashed into the Thames Coast Rd and it's caused a lot of damage."
Some residents in the area have had to evacuate, Thames-Coromandel District Council says.
For those who can reach it, an evacuation point has been established at the Te Puru community hall on West Crescent.
It's open for people whose homes have been flooded or motorists stranded by the Thames Coast Rd being shut.
Civil Defence advises anyone concerned about their electricity to also go to the hall.
Newshub.
