NSW floods: Forbes’ locals seek refuge in cars as mammoth clean up begins
A furious Eugowra local has confronted the Premier during his visit to the flooded town, angered at the response from authorities and pleading for more help.
NSW
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A furious Eugowra local has confronted the Premier during his visit to the flooded town, angered at the response from authorities and pleading for more help.
Peter Jones cornered Dominic Perrottet during his visit to the local SES station, telling the Premier his town was left without food, water and suffered a lengthy emergency response.
“I was the first one to ring up and ask for helicopters and I was told it’s not a major flood,” Mr Jones said.
“People were just left to their own devices, we had no food, no clothes, no one telling us what was going to happen next.”
Mr Perrottet listened to the angry local’s pleas for more help, telling Mr Jones “whatever we can do to make sure that is fixed we will do.”
The answer wasn’t good enough for Mr Jones who said the government should have been more prepared given the frequency of floods in NSW.
“It happened at Lismore, it’s repeating the same thing and you bring up the same answers.”
Mr Perrottet agreed there was a long way to go, and vowed to meet with Mr Jones if returned to office next year.
Mr Jones is just one of hundreds of devastated Eugowra locals who are picking up the pieces after the town went underwater.
Homes in the state’s Central West town of Forbes remain inundated with water after floodwaters ripped through the town on Tuesday.
Residents are seeking shelter and a dry place to sleep with their four-legged friends in their vehicles as massive recovery efforts are underway to clean up the debris and inspect the damage.
Local resident Brad Fox, 60, was prepared for flood waters but the level that surged into his home was higher than he expected.
“It came up well over waste deep,” he said.
By Thursday, the water was sitting stagnant in and around his home, still far too deep to start any clean up or salvaging.
“When it goes down I’ll clean it up and sell it,” he said.
“I’m going to travel around in my ute.”
His ute has become his home after the floods, with Mr Fox sleeping in a swag on the tray, while his little dog sleeps inside the cab.
While he’s been offered a bed by friends and volunteers, he didn’t want to take up space for someone “more in need”.
“I don’t want to take up a bed when an elderly couple might need it,” he said.
“I’m fine in my ute here, I’m comfortable and I can keep an eye on my house.”
He’d heard rumours of looters, and wanted to keep a watchful eye over his property.
The alley way behind his home has turned into a makeshift community hub for the residents on his street, who have helped each other out with food, clothes and a place to sleep.
“We all help each other out here in Forbes, that’s just what we do,” he said.
Insurance premiums reach up to $20,000 per year for floor coverage in flood-prone areas across Forbes, and sadly, Mr Fox was not insured.
“It is what it is,” he said.
“It’s given me that push to sell and start my trip.”
Forbes is remaining the focus for the SES, as it continues to respond to requests for assistance during the major flooding.
The Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) reported the town had reached its flood peak at 10.7m on Thursday, just below the 70-year record of 10.8m.
Floodwaters in the town are slowly receding but they’re expected to remain at a major level until the weekend.
It’s the second time in just 10 days that Forbes has flooded, putting locals in a state of limbo.
“We had plenty of warning but it was just the waiting and waiting,” Mr Fox said.
The main road in town has been turned into a river, with SES volunteers ferrying locals to their homes or nurses to work at the local hospital for more than 12 hours each.
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