Bar manager and jet ski hero Jason Ross risked his own safety to save his neighbours

Stranded flood victims are alive today because everyday people such as Ballina bar manager Jason Ross ignored their own safety and headed into the danger zone to rescue them.

Jason Ross was one of many everyday heroes who disobeyed an order from the SES not to come and help Lismore – and hundreds, if not thousands of people are alive as a result.

The knockabout bar manager from the Shaws Bay Hotel at Ballina woke Monday to hear about the dire situation unfolding in nearby Lismore.

The State Emergency Service had asked civilians not to bring boats and jet skis into the stricken town but then Mr Ross saw Lismore Mayor Steve Krieg pleading for help on social media.

Jason Ross (L) is the bar manager at the Shaws Bay hotel who helped rescue Lismore flood victims

The pub would have to wait as Mr Ross and a few mates grabbed their jet skis and headed west.

“The SES was saying please don’t bring your own boats to Lismore but the mayor of Lismore got me, he pleaded with people with boats and jet skis to come and help, so I said to my wife: ‘I’m going to Lismore’,” Mr Ross said.

By the time he got there at 10am, it was a horrific sight.

“The devastation and how high the water was … I couldn’t believe it. It is something you never want to see again in your lifetime,” the father of three said.

Luckily he was not alone. Many with jet skis and boats had ignored the SES and answered the call.

“Mate, I tell you there would be thousands of dead people if we didn’t go,” Mr Ross said bluntly.

Jason Ross from Ballina, pictured with his daughters Alicia and Layla, helped evacuate victims of the Lismore floods. Picture: Danielle Smith

“We saw two SES boats the whole day, every boat we saw was all civilians. I was not a one-man band, that is for sure.

“There were a few of us on our jet skis and we could go into really tight places where boats couldn’t. We were pulling up to the roofs of houses and knocking to make sure there was no one in there.

“We were going into really tight spots … We fell off a few times and were lucky to get back on, it was quite hairy.

“We rescued from roofs and balconies. Some were not comfortable getting on the jet skis so we would go back out and get a boat nearby and help them jump in the boats.”

Lismore has been devastated by the floods. Picture: NearMap

Jason Ross with his family Alicia 13, Imogen 15, Louisa Ross and Layla, 10.

One of those he helped was Liz Swift and her daughter Phoebe Cowan, 16.

At 4am the water was waist-deep in their South Lismore home, so the pair tucked their four cats and two dogs into the top of the wardrobes and scrambled onto the roof where they waited in the rain for help – for six hours.

“If it wasn’t for them, who would know if we would be still alive,” Ms Swift said.

“My neighbour was Marge Graham, she was one of the lives lost.

“Phoebe and I listened to her crying for help when we were on our roof and there was nothing we could do, there was no one there at that stage.

“We listened to people screaming for hours from their roofs. You could hear people banging on their roofs, people that had got into the (attic) and couldn’t get out … we listened to hours of banging and screaming.”

Ms Swift and Phoebe were rescued by jet ski and taken to South Lismore Soccer Club. But things started to get hairy there.

Jason Ross from Ballina helped save a bull from the river in Woodburn on Wednesday

“There were eight of us on the balcony at the South Lismore soccer club with two horses who were upset, so we were backed up against the wall, ankle-deep in water,” she said.

“That was scary, one fellow jumped out of a boat and booted in a window of the soccer club, opened the door and got us inside before the horses started kicking. Jason and the other fellows got us back to Ballina St bridge.”

Ms Swift is staying with relatives as her home has been lost but she is forever grateful to the everyday heroes that came to their rescue.

“If it wasn’t for these heroes, who knows where we would be? I’m at a loss for words on how to thank them,” she said.

Remarkably, their four cats and two dogs also survived.

Mr Ross and his mates worked for seven hours straight, rescuing dozens of people.

On Wednesday, the trusty jet ski got another workout at Woodburn when he rescued a bull from the middle of the river.

“We saved that bull and it turned out to be owned by one of the drinkers here at Shaws Bay,” Mr Ross said.

“I showed him the video and he said: ‘No way, that’s my bull’!”

Originally published as Bar manager and jet ski hero Jason Ross risked his own safety to save his neighbours