and it's not pretty
This is day 3 and while I've come through fairly well compared to 60% of the town, I'm not unscathed, emotionally and physically. A lot of photos here of the before, during and after and they tell the story of the inundation, the amount of water dropped on us in a short time and what's left now. What they can't show is the absolute terror I felt Thursday night, as the rain pounded and the river roared right beside my house, like a freight train. I lay in bed with the dog cowering beside me.... both of us cowering actually....and we listened to the thumps and thunks in the night, as loose debris was hurled into the house, some of it huge trees I saw next day. I had followed along on a local FB site, shared emails with concerned friends and was on the phone with friends and neighbours as we kept vigil and waited, and checked on each other. I watched as the SES boats zoomed back and forth along the street, sometimes right through my front yard, to evacuate people from their homes and sometimes their rooftops. I was up and down all night checking the water levels, and by about 4am they were about 15 cm from the floorboards, so I got up and started emptying cupboards and stacking things up off the floor "just in case". It didn't happen though, no water came into the house, but a lot of people weren't so lucky.
Then my power went off about 3am, and I was on my own with it. I had spoken with my son in Sydney and he said he was on his way. My phone cut out, and so I couldn't tell him you won't get to me, all roads in and out are closed, some washed away, others angry roaring extensions of the river. It was a comfort to know he was on his way, but dam, I wanted him there in the house with me, right then! He's nearby somewhere, driving the countryside, trying to find a way into town. I'll be really glad when he's here.
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Above are all Thursday afternoon as we waited, the river had almost topped the 6metre levee bank by then and the park where Mirrhi and I walk every day was well and truly under water, with it heading rapidly to the road, the main road into and out of town(bottom picture) These are looking east and north, by 6pm the roads out were under water, and my whole yard was a lake.    
From the front door, looking south
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About 11pm Thursday from my bedroom window, one of many rounds of the house to check how high the water was coming up. This was still a couple of feet from floor level.
Early Friday morning, the rain had stopped, but the river kept overflowing. Looking from my front door again
Mid-morning Friday, back of my house, looking down at the vegetable garden that was
Was planning to pick those tamarillos on Thursday and make jam, hope they're still there
Well that was Thursday night and Friday. The water's gone down a lot and the clean up has begun. It's been heartbreaking to see the mess under my house, the garden that's destroyed and the amount of silt and mud to be removed from around the house. More in another post, I'm exhausted now and looking forward to a full night's sleep where I don't have to be up checking water levels. We were told yesterday that there'd be another major flood last night because of a tidal surge, so I
was awake and on alert all night, but it didn't happen, thank goodness.
till next time...
