With cabins lifted off foundations and a footbridge destroyed, Steve O'Hara is counting the damage from a flash flood that swept through his Bay of Plenty campground.

The Waihī Beach Tasman Holiday Park manager noticed the buildings and games room starting to flood about 2pm, after heavy rain and as high tide approached.

'Then the river started rising and getting faster and faster. By 2.30 we made the decision to evacuate the park and get everyone out of here and send everyone up to the RSA.”

There were around 25 people, a mix of tourists and staff. Steve says it's lucky the camp ground was quiet.

'The camping ground can have up to 500 – 600 guests when it's full. It would have been a very different situation.”

He says the river was up for a good half an hour, leaving damage everywhere once it had receded.

'Never seen anything like it before, especially nothing that has happened that quickly – we have had the river quite high, never coming over.”

At points the water was at least 1.2 metres high, Steve says, and it knocked down fences and lifted asphalt.

Cabins were washed off their foundations and Waihī Beach Tasman Holiday Park is closed until further notice.

'It wasn't scary in the moment because you kick into gear and get everybody out and make sure they're safe. The damage is secondary to people's safety.”

He is now waiting for an insurance assessor but expects it to be a fairly large sum as power, structures, and water pipes have all been significantly damaged.

'We've lost half a camping site by the beach front, it's just gone.”

The camp is now shut until further notice, which is a blow just days out from a long weekend.

'It's just lucky it wasn't at night. It could have been a different story, and lucky no one was hurt.”

A footbridge was destroyed and power and water infrastructure damaged as floodwaters rose.

-Jo Lines-MacKenzie/Stuff.