Extraordinary rescue of couple and six dogs as NSW flood clean-up begins

Australian Community Media

NSW firefighters paddled two hours through floodwaters near Kempsey to rescue two stranded people and their working dogs using a bamboo raft, drone light and sheer grit as the NSW flood clean-up begins. This video includes ACM-produced voiceover powered by AI.

Transcript

00:00An extraordinary flood rescue near Kempsey saw NSW firefighters save a man, a woman and six

00:07working dogs stranded on a remote farm for three days. A crew of in-water technicians paddled for

00:13two hours through submerged bushland to reach the isolated property after floodwaters wiped out all

00:19landmarks. When the team arrived, they found the man showing signs of hypothermia and refusing to

00:24leave without his dogs. In response, firefighters tore down a bamboo fence and fashioned a makeshift

00:30raft using firefighting cords as leads and tethering it to their inflatable floodboat.

00:36Guided back through pitch-black conditions by a drone's spotlight from another crew,

00:40the group made their two-kilometre paddle to safety. Both residents were later taken to Kempsey

00:45Hospital for treatment. The rescue was just one of dozens carried out across NSW, where emergency

00:50services have responded to over 860 incidents in 24 hours, including 44 flood rescues. Around 50,000

00:58Aussies remain cut off and authorities say the clean-up and recovery phase may take years in some areas.

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