A man whose house was partially destroyed by floods has managed to make light of the dire situation by enjoying a beer in a pool of rainwater on his property.
Mick Campbell was filmed by his neighbour cracking open a tinnie in the flooded backyard of his home in Taree, on the New South Wales mid north coast.
Mr Campbell appeared unfazed as he sat under a shed in a pool of shoulder-high floodwater, surrounded by leaves and debris.
‘Don’t know what people are bitching about,’ he joked. ‘Might have to go for a swim.’
Mr Campbell told Daily Mail Australia that his house flooded on Friday night before water levels continued to rise well into Saturday.
‘Saturday night is when it all went under. I was up to my ankles of mud in the kitchen and bedroom. The water was above the height of the kitchen table,’ he said.
A man whose house was partially destroyed by floods has managed to make light of the dire situation by enjoying a beer in a pool of rainwater on his property
Mr Campbell, whose house isn’t insured, said he took the lighthearted video to cheer himself up following the devastating flood.
‘This is what Aussies do in the face of adversity, we make humour out bad situations,’ he said.
Mr Campbell and his partner managed to save their laptop, television and a few personal items.
‘She’s been my rock. She’s wiped a few tears out of my eyes the last few days. She’s been there the whole way through with me,’ he said.
‘What I’ve got I can buy again. I’ve put it down to that my partner is safe, I’m safe and my cars and motorbikes are safe. It could have been a lot worse.’
Mr Campbell said the structure of his house is unscathed, but his fridge, washing machine and other appliances are completely destroyed.
‘The water is starting to subside now quite substantially now,’ he said.
‘I’m going to get a trailer from town now to use to see if I can salvage anything from the property.’
Thousands of people have been evacuated on the NSW Mid-North Coast and western Sydney, as swollen rivers flood towns and torrential rain continues to lash much of the state’s east coast.
There are 40 flood warnings and 20 evacuation orders in place running from the Mid-North Coast down to the Illawarra, including western Sydney, with more expected to be declared on Monday.
People in Kempsey’s CBD were told by the State Emergency Service to evacuate by midnight with major flooding possible along the Macleay River at Kempsey and Smithtown on Monday.
The SES is warning the deluge will continue and more evacuations are likely.
Federal Emergency Management Minister David Littleproud says the situation ‘”could get a lot worse”.
There are 40 flood warnings and 20 evacuation orders in place running from the Mid-North Coast down to the Illawarra, including western Sydney. Pictured: The New Windsor Bridg
A semi-submerged child’s playground on the banks of the flooded Nepean River at Trench Reserve at Penrith in Sydney
The catchment areas are already saturated and rain in those already deluged areas are at risk of flash flooding.
Evacuation orders are now in place for low lying areas of Kempsey, Macksville, Port Macquarie, the lower Macleay, Wauchope and Rawdon Island, Taree and Wingham.
People are being asked to move possessions up high, take pets, essential items, warm clothes, medicines, insurance documents and valuables with them and stay with family or friends, or head to evacuation centres.
There is a major flood warning in place for the Hastings River at Port Macquarie.
SES Superintendent Shane Cribb said Port Macquarie had been hit with more than 800mm of rain and his volunteers had been working 24-hour shifts.
“I have never seen rainfall like this. I have worked in a number of floods and this is the biggest one I have worked in in my career,” he told ABC TV.
Some towns had been isolated for days, some without fresh water or power.
Some people had been living in evacuation centres for up to three days and the SES was looking for alternative accommodation for 400 people.
