NSW Floods: Children, alpaca rescue at Shanes Park Rd, Shanes Park

A remarkable five hour flood rescue has taken place in Sydney’s west with six adults, nine kids, 21 dogs, four alpacas and a baby saved from rising floodwaters.

A remarkable five hour flood rescue has taken place in Sydney’s west with adults, children, alpacas, cats and a baby saved from rising floodwaters.

SES crews were called to Shane Park Rd, Shanes Park to save two families - consisting six adults, nine kids, a baby, 21 dogs and four alpacas - trapped inside their homes who were caught off guard by the speed the water levels rose.

A man with a rescued alpaca. Picture: Jeremy Piper

The floodwaters at Shanes Park. Picture: Jeremy Piper

“With this particular area ... it can be quite dangerous,” an SES spokeswoman said. “The waters can run very fast. Having that local knowledge and being there before, our crews know where to go.”

“The alpacas were on the balcony of a house, as animals do they relocated to higher ground, It made it a bit more difficult to extract them but teams were able to get them on the boat safely.

SES volunteers hold down the alpaca. Picture: Jeremy Piper

“People stayed in their homes because they think they’ve done it before. People want to stay and protect their house. They think they’ll ride it out but when an evacuation order comes, listen and get out otherwise you may need to be rescued. With floods you lose water and power. Ir’s a catch-22. You need to be aware of all these things.”

The whimper of an alpaca could be heard as an SES boat arrived on dry land about 3pm on Thursday.

For Shanes Park resident Suzette Turner it has been a devastating couple of days for her family with five properties submerged, including her own Shanes Park home.

“We’ve lost three here and we’ve got another two family homes in Werrington that have gone under as well. We’ve lost five homes today,” she said.

“My grandchildren were airlifted by an army helicopter earlier this morning. Their house went under really quickly,” she said. “We’ve evacuated, we’re out. We’ve heard these houses are going to go under tonight so we can’t get our furniture out or anything. We’ve lost everything but we’re alive.”

The scene of the dramatic rescue. Picture: Simran Gill

SES crews at the scene. Picture: Simran Gill

SES volunteer Daniel Stables said the two families saved from the floodwaters were naturally stressed when they first saw the rescuers.

“They didn’t realise the water come up that fast,” he said.

“(The alpacas) were quite stressed, the owner was quite stressed. It was very stressful for us to see that. The human side of it, we see it and we understand it.”

A man who played a leading role with the rescue of the alpacas, volunteer Riley Tauci, said the dramatic rescue went without a hitch.

“The alpacas all looked distressed but they are now on dry ground and pretty safe,” he said.

He said he would offer his 300 acre property to safely house the alpacas in coming days, if that is what the owner wished.

The dramatic flood rescue came as hundreds of western Sydney families were evacuated in the 24 hours prior as the water levels of Hawkesbury and Nepean rivers continued to rise.