Tiffany Urquhart took to a Facebook community group to desperately ask for help after assistance never came from the SES or emergency services
A country town has rallied to save a stranded couple and their 11-year-old disabled daughter from flash flooding in their remote farmhouse as rain continues to lash the NSW coastline.
The Urquhart family, who live in Ghinni Ghinni near flood-ravaged Taree on the NSW Mid-North Coast, became trapped by rising waters on Friday night.
Tiffany Urquhart took to a Facebook community group to ask for help after assistance never came from the SES or emergency services.
‘Please come and help us. The water is rising. We won’t last that long,’ the 31-year-old wrote.
Her friend Rob Macpherson, who works for the Rural Fire Service at Harrington, sprung into action.
Mr Macpherson organised his friends from the RFS to meet the family on the highway and coordinated with police to take them to safety at nearby Coopernook Church.
‘We were already waist deep in water. The State Emergency Service told us there were no boats or helicopters in the area and they would get back to us in the morning,’ Ms Urquhart told The Daily Telegraph.
The Urquhart family, who live in Ghinni Ghinni near flood-ravaged Taree on the NSW Mid-North Coast, became trapped by rising waters on Friday night. Pictured: the family’s home
The mother’s friend Rob Macpherson, who works for the Rural Fire Service at Harrington, sprung into action. Pictured: the family’s flooded property
Parts of Port Macquarie, Taree and nearby towns have also flooded in what Premier Gladys Berejiklian labelled a ‘one-in-100-year event’ for the region
‘When police and RFS got us out they said with the king tide we wouldn’t have survived to morning. We have lost everything.’
Ms Urquhart and her husband said they received no warning or text message to evacuate.
Parts of Port Macquarie, Taree and nearby towns have also flooded in what Premier Gladys Berejiklian labelled a ‘one-in-100-year event’ for the region.
Taree was hit by a 454mm deluge from Thursday to Sunday – with more rain forecast on Monday and Tuesday – while 416mm of rain has fallen on nearby Kendall, and Port Macquarie has been lashed by 370mm.
The Bureau of Meteorology expects Monday to bring the worst flooding event to the area northwest of Sydney since November 1961, nearly 50 years ago.
Floodwaters were expected to inundate places such as Windsor, Pitt Town, North Richmond, Freemans Reach and Colo.
The Hawkesbury River was predicted to reach peaks of up to 15 metres and the State Emergency Service says homes and properties will be flooded, some up to roof height.
The floods will cut off evacuation routes and cause lasting outages to utilities, the SES said as it urged residents to prepare to evacuate.
‘Extensive outages of water, electricity, sewerage, telecommunications and gas are expected to last many weeks or months,’ the SES said early on Monday.
The event is likely to exceed the capacity of emergency crews, who have already responded to some 8000 calls for help, the SES said.
Flooding along the Hawkesbury and Nepean rivers came after the Warragamba Dam spilled over.
Meanwhile, the Bureau of Meteorology expects Monday to bring the worst flooding event to the area northwest of Sydney since November 1961, nearly 50 years ago. Pictured: Howard Creek
Parts of Penrith and other areas along the Nepean were ordered to evacuate on Sunday as NSW battles devastating floods after days of unabated rain.
Scores of people have already been rescued from floodwaters, while prison inmates have been evacuated and more than 100 schools remain shut.
BOM’s Agata Imielska said the severity of rainfall in greater Sydney would ease on Monday but the mid-north coast would continue to be drenched and inland NSW would be pounded by rain.
She said the NSW northwest slopes and plains would receive four times more rain in two days than the entire March monthly average.
Ms Berejiklian earlier said the floods in the Hawkesbury Nepean Valley could prompt an additional 4000 evacuations.
The federal government’s natural disaster arrangements have been activated for 18 local government areas across NSW.
