Maclean flood recovery: community effort saves town from utter devastation

A few centimeters was all that stood between a Northern Rivers town and utter flood devastation after a determined community fought to save itself.

The tight-knit community of Maclean is no stranger to floods but locals braced for the worst as they nervously watched the speed of the river rise last week.

The water level at the northern NSW town peaked at 3.367m last Thursday – 1cm above the height of the man-made levee.

Residents said they had never before seen it nearly break the structure.

Coffee and Cafe owner Steven James with his family.

They would have suffered even more loss had it not been for their tireless work to save it.

After a difficult two-year slog enduring a pandemic, bushfires and flooding, Coffee at cafe owner Steven James watched with angst as the water nearly toppled the wall that backed onto the town’s main street.

In the middle of that street sat the cafe he’d had for nearly a decade, surrounded by sandbags and with appliances propped on tables and chairs in preparation for the worst.

The town of Maclean suffered serious flooding but escaped the extent which towns like Lismore endured.

“I’d never seen anything like it… it was a concern,” he said.

“There were electric pumps along the levee wall, but they didn’t work, so they had to get other pumps come in and generally people were worried about their businesses and houses as we can’t take anything more.

“They know the river and what it’s capable of more than any authorities.”

James Kearin said water submerged his garage and he will be cleaning up for weeks.

Next door at the Maclean Hotel, pub owner Jack Mcintyre said there was a crack in the man-made levee behind his venue, but his main concern was the weakening of the grass levee at the river bank.

“I think the wall should be lifted and the embankment gone, as that was the closest I’ve ever seen to the top,” he said.

Mr Kearin says if it wasn’t for the community effort, his upper floor likely would’ve been hit.

“People keep saying it’s a rarity but the last flood was just 12 months ago.

“If that water rises even a bit more next time, it’ll be trouble.”

Echoing that view, bartender Stacey Dugmore expressed frustration at the flooding of her uninsured house down the road.

Stacey Dugmore (left) was glad her workplace didn’t suffer the flooding that damaged her home.

Many more business owners and residents said they were grateful for largely escaping the fate that smashed their northern neighbours in Lismore.

But they said homes in the town and its surroundings were still inundated with water rushing up to second levels – with no shortage of State Emergency Service-led rescues for medical emergencies and supply shortages.

Business owners were worried because the main street backs onto the river.

But they attributed the avoidance of even more loss to a mammoth community effort.

Many of the town’s nearly 3000 residents built and placed hundreds of sandbags along the levee and in front of homes and businesses in the days after the deluge.

Hundreds of residents came together to sand bag the man-made and natural levees

James Kearin, whose house backs onto the river, said the water in his backyard reached to his chest.

“My daughters were panicking,” he said.

Deirdre Bailey from Maclean State Emergency Service unit said volunteers and locals saved the rest of the town “by the skin of its teeth”.

“The community here is amazing,” she said.

“It’s so much more than just a home to so many people and they stopped it from going under.”

Flood water reached higher than this levee for the first time in recent memory.

As for the pump that failed, Clarence Valley Council’s acting general manager Laura Black said that was not unusual given the sheer number of pumps working non-stop.

She said it was quickly replaced.

Water reached the top of the orange concrete in these homes that were still cut off.

She said the council had adopted a range of projects with the help of the federal government to improve flood protection but that the town “is not built for floods bigger than what we got”.

“The reality is the water came to 3.36m which is higher than the man-made levee which is at 3.3m,” she said.

“It would have gone over if it weren’t for the community.”