NSW floods: Teenager and his tinnie rescue North Haven locals

A week ago, Archie Cross, 13, decided to jump into his tinnie and hit the flooded streets to rescue his neighbours and their pets from their inundated homes in a remarkable display of bravery.

Archie Cross has displayed courage beyond his 13 years.

As floodwaters rose around his home town of North Haven on the Mid North Coast on March 20, his natural instinct was to help.

The Year 7 student pushed his tinnie out into the muddied waters on the corner of Alma St and Ocean Drive about 9am.

Over the next several hours, in the pouring rain, ­Archie rescued about 10 residents and a handful of pets their from inundated homes.

“We were driving up and down the neighbourhood checking on people,” Archie said.

“We were making sure people were OK and trying to convince people to come out.

“We were telling them there is a 1.5m tide coming in and that was going to see the water go a lot higher.”

Archie Cross, 13, jumped into his tinnie and went to rescue his neighbours during the flood disaster. Picture: Nathan Edwards

Archie’s story is one of many examples of heroism emerging out of the flood-ravaged region as the massive clean-up effort stretches into the second week.

About 400mm of rain bucketed down on the Port Macquarie area on Friday March 19, sparking a succession of flood evacuations.

But phone reception was poor and the only way to get the message to residents in the flood zone was to physically find them.

Archie and his tinnie, which he regularly uses for fishing on the weekends, was among a local flotilla that plucked vulnerable people from inundated homes and whisked them to safety.

The teenager’s knowledge of the suburb made him aware of which streets were underwater and who would need rescuing, including a cigar smoking elderly man named Jack and his terrified cat.

Archie helped a few of his North Haven neighbours during the natural disaster. Picture: Nathan Edwards

Archie managed to rescue Jack Jennings and his cat Buffy. Picture: Nathan Edwards

Archie was initially with his father, but after a while he was doing rescue runs solo.

“He is very aware of the water and familiar with the streets,” mum Kylie said.

“I knew the waters weren’t running real fast in the backstreets where he was rescuing people. It was just a natural thing for him to help people … we are really proud of him.”

In some cases, residents told Archie they were waiting for the State Emergency Service, but the volunteers were flat out.

“They had to say: ‘There is no SES, they are at capacity’ and convince them to leave,” Mrs Cross said.

An army of volunteers from the Port Macquarie Pirates Rugby Union team along with RFS and ADF 6th Battalion RAR from Brisbane help clean up continues at the Riverside Village Residential Park in Port Macquarie. Picture: Nathan Edwards

Meanwhile, in Port Macquarie, the Army, Rural Fire Service volunteers and even the Port Pirates Rugby Union Club were yesterday cleaning up tonnes of debris.

In one area, about 47 homes were inundated with water and there are concerns many must be demolished.

Some residents haven’t been home since evacuating a week ago, but volunteers have been clearing out mountains of waterlogged furniture.

Des Cremer, 71, knew it was time to evacuate when he tried to get out of bed and his feet landed in water.

By the time he had attracted the attention of SES boats as they zigzagged between homes, evacuating his neighbours, it had risen to his waist.

Yesterday his wife Rosalind was drying out family photo albums in the sun.

“We have lost everything,” Mr Cremer said. “We are looking at three to six months before we can come back in.”

Officers from the ADF 6th Battalion RAR in Brisbane help clean up after the floods. Picture: Nathan Edwards

RFS Illawarra group captain Andrew Sweeney said his volunteers had been cleaning the village to try and restore some normality.

“It was absolutely inundated by water, it was above my head in some areas,” he said.

“We are trying to make it as pleasant as we can for the residents. It’s been very tough, they have lost everything.”

The Pirates rugby union teams were on their way to Bowraville for a Saturday game when they learned the roads were still cut off.

They turned around and headed to Hastings River Drive instead to lend a hand.

“They were all straight on to it, no questions asked,” head coach Marc Minor said.