The Flood of One

Friday, March 9, 2001. All throughout the day, the traffic was stopped on the Pacific Highway because herds of cattle were being moved from the river flats to higher ground.

Saturday, March 10, 2001. After a week of torrential rain and wild weather, the sun finally appeared but so did a lot of water. Hundreds of cattle had been moved into our lane as water from the creek crossed the paddock opposite us and started to flow across the lane and through our place. Sight of the day was a woman in a Drizabone coat, Akubra hat, Blundstone boots - full Aussie country gear. She was on horseback herding cattle with the help of cattle dogs. And talking on a mobile phone! Must make the work so much easier. Mobile phones have been a necessity around here because we haven't had a house phone for almost a week.

Flood Starting at Dusk

Sunday, March 11, 2001. The dawn of a new day and this was the sight that greeted us - a river through our property.

Sunrise Over our Paddocks. River through the Vegie Patch.

Creek Overflowing through Paddock & the Lane.

The sight was hardly surprising because I had been up all night watching the waters rise by moonlight. Clybucca Creek overflowed, lakes formed in the paddocks all around and slowly the waters joined to form the river. An hour earlier I had evacuated the chickens and their mother from the chook shed because they are still sleeping in a nest. The chook shed was full of spiders and crickets climbing up the walls to escape the rising water. At daybreak, I evacuated the chooks one by one from their roosts as water lapped at their feet. The ducks just swam out of the shed. The poultry camped out on Sunday night.

Flooded Paddocks. Letter Box Survives.

By lunch time the house yard was an island. The top of the letter box only just stayed above water. The neighbour at the end of the lane went under so we had to swim his cattle to the high part of the lane. The water was chest deep. Another neighbour was stranded on our side of the creek so he was collected by boat at our front gate. Our cattle had a thin strip of high ground along the fence which goes along the lane. We had to cut the fence between our properties so that they could get into my property, half of which is high ground.

Poultry Camping Out. Cows Paddling in the Lane.

The whole area was buzzing with helicopters. A big army helicopter flew around our house while we were an island to check on us and then went around every other house that was surrounded by water. As well as dropping food and medicine to people who were flood bound further up river, they dropped hay to stranded cattle. People were evacuated by helicopter from Smithtown and Gladstone. South West Rocks was isolated for a couple of days.

Lake Clybucca. Water Under the Back Gate.

The Pacific Highway was closed at the end of our lane on Saturday morning and remained closed until about 40 trucks, escorted by an army helicopter, were allowed through on Tuesday morning but then it was closed again for another 24 hours. Neil had a container on the truck which was supposed to be on a ship for Hong Kong on Monday morning. Trucks, tourists and motorists were all stranded at Clybucca because of the flooding further north as well. All of the rivers in the top half of NSW were in full flood.

No Way Through Clybucca. Unless you have a Helicopter.


March, 01

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