Fola Samoa supervises a group of 12 men who work at a Johnny Appleseed orchard in Pakowhai.
He said they were eating breakfast when they realised how bad the flooding had become.
"One of the men, came to me and said 'boss, there's a river come through to our house'," Fola said.
"I walked through to the front door and I was shocked, because our driveway was like a, like a river."
Samoa said it was "like a tsunami" - and reminded them of the devastating tsunami that wreaked havoc in Samoa in 2009.