A case of row row your boat across the carpet.........
Sad to hear of that, and hope you will get the work done fast. How old is the old one, generally a pressure geyser ( hot water tank) will last around 5-10 years, while a gravity geyser will last essentially forever.
i have had this happen to me, but luckily the unit was mounted under the floor, so only wet on the ground. The other one at work just wetted the floor, with a slow drip.
Another time I went in to work, to find water flowing down the stairs......... Turned on the lights, turned off the tap left on, switched all the aircons to max cool and went home. What else can I do on a Friday night? Came in on Monday and most was gone, though a lot of carpeting needed to be replaced as it had lifted.