The drama unfolded when the tractor — carrying six occupants, including the two-month-old baby — suddenly stopped in the middle of the swollen waters very late on Saturday night.
The Greymouth Star understands the group was trying to reach a hut and some friends on the other side.
Two of the occupants were swept off the tractor and down the river. Both were able to scramble up the river bank and raise the alarm, while the others remained trapped in the floodwaters.
Senior Sergeant Mark Kirkwood, of Greymouth, said police immediately dispatched the West Coast whitewater search and rescue team, comprised of members from across the region, along with the Roa Mining West Coast Rescue Helicopter.
Initially, weather hampered the helicopter efforts but a weather window opened and the stranded people were winched from the swollen river just as the whitewater rescue team arrived about 3am.
Those rescued, ranging in years from the baby to middle age, were taken to Te Nikau Hospital in Greymouth for a checkup.
Sen Sgt Kirkwood was unimpressed with the turn of events.
The decision to cross a swollen river, with six people on a tractor, was "questionable at best".
The fact a baby was involved had been referred to Oranga Tamariki, he said.
— Greymouth Star
