With the SES inundated with calls, a family in a small town on the mid north coast has had a harrowing night waiting to be rescued. Flood waters crept up the walls of their Clybucca home. But thanks to a local farmer and his boat they're now back on dry land.
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00An anxious wait for rescue, Julie Botfield and her two children spent the night stuck
00:10on the second floor of their Clybucker home.
00:13The water rose really quickly.
00:16To my surprise, I wasn't really expecting it to rise that much.
00:21Inundated with calls, the SES wasn't able to get to them.
00:25I think it was about 3 o'clock in the morning. I felt like I was going to have a big pedding attack.
00:32So I was more worried about the kids than myself and I had the two dogs there as well.
00:36So I did call triple zero.
00:39By daylight, they were still stuck. Fortunately, a local farmer with a boat came to their rescue.
00:46It was really hard to get everyone in the boat because we've got the stairs.
00:50So we couldn't get the boat in and the spiders that were everywhere and the snakes and the frogs.
00:55And I didn't want to put the kids in the water to get into the boat.
00:59The family is now back safely on dry land.
01:02While many people evacuated, some, including Julie's neighbour, decided to stay.
01:08The road into their homes at Clybucker remains inundated.
01:13It's usually a beautiful, green, lush farm.
01:19But at the moment, it's 360 water degree views.
01:23Holly watched the water rushing over nearby paddocks.
01:27It wasn't a really point where I thought, well, we've got to get out of here now.
01:30But the thought was coming into my mind that if it kept going and rising, we would have to do that.
01:38With the rain subsiding, she's now waiting to see how bad the damage is.
01:43The water hasn't receded yet. We can't see what's happened underneath.
01:46In Port Macquarie, residents have also banded together, running a barge across the Hastings River
01:53to take essential supplies to the town's isolated north shore.
01:57We've got some local guys here, local oyster farmers and boaties who are actually willing to go over in the waters.
02:04The isolated residents are without power.
02:07And the car ferries, which provide the only access to the area, have been out of action.
02:12My brother Rodney's been there for 40 years, right on the river.
02:15They are used to it, but this one is a bit different to 2021.
02:19The water's staying around a lot longer.
02:21A community rallying together to face a long road of recovery.
02:27The water's staying around a lot longer.
02:28The water's staying around a lot longer.
02:29The water's staying around a lot longer.
02:30The water's staying around a lot longer.
02:31The water's staying around a lot longer.
02:32The water's staying around a lot longer.
02:33The water's staying around a lot longer.
02:34The water's staying around a lot longer.
02:35The water's staying around a lot longer.
02:36The water's staying around a lot longer.
02:37The water's staying around a lot longer.
02:38The water's staying around a lot longer.
02:39The water's staying around a lot longer.
02:40The water's staying around a lot longer.
02:41The water's staying around a lot longer.
02:42The water's staying around a lot longer.
02:43The water's staying around a lot longer.
02:44The water's staying around a lot longer.
02:45The water's staying around a lot longer.
02:46The water's staying around a lot longer.