Liley Humphries and AJ Purbrick, who live near the Oval, had been voluntarily helping tackle the South Dunedin flood for two days and were busy with their shovels in a drain at the intersection of Prendergast and Cutten Sts, near Hillside Rd.
Houses in the street include railway worker cottages built in the 1890s, some with floorboards laid directly on the ground, providing little height between street and carpet.
Ms Humphries called for more council action.
"It is annoying. I really wish the council would actually get on to it."
A truck suctioning up rubbish and water should be doing the job, she said.
"We are going around draining storm drains and sandbagging. We are doing what we can, when we can. A lot of the drains we clear have liquefaction coming back up so we are constantly digging them back out."
Mr Purbrick said they were able to help more during this flood than in 2015 because they now had a bigger vehicle to get around in.
Resident Stephen Gibson said he lived in one of the council houses in the street and complained about the slow emergency response.
"The police should have been here straight away and closed the street," he said.
He thought the council should look at moving people in low-lying council properties to higher ground — and the government should pay, Mr Gibson said.
"Where is the Prime Minister when you need him down here? He is just hiding after the [hospital rebuild] protest the other day."
