Face of fear amid flood rescue, but police boss promises help for recovery phase

The Cowan family’s incredible rescue was one of 22 winch jobs the NSW Police Polair crew did in one day during the worst floods on the NSW mid north coast in over 100 years. The police boss has now promised help for the recovery phase.

The view from Polair during their Taree rescues on May 21.

The fear on 12-year-old Ashley Cowan’s face as the NSW police helicopter hovered overhead was palpable.

Stranded on a shed roof with her mother, brother and grandparents, with raging water surrounding their home at Glenthorne, near Taree, this was their only way out.

The Cowan family’s incredible rescue was one of 22 winch jobs the NSW Police Polair crew did in one day during the worst floods on the mid north coast in over 100 years.

“She was terrified, but so brave,” Ashley’s mother Anna Cowan said. “The noise of the helicopter was pretty overwhelming, and the weather, it was pretty wild, but she was so brave”.

Ashley Cowan, 12, is rescued from a shed roof at Glenthorpe, near Taree, by the NSW Police helicopter crew.

Grandfather Richard Cowan, who was also winched from the roof, said it it wasn’t for the efforts of the police, he dreads to think what may have happened.

“I’ve lived through two floods before, and we got about 8-10 inches of water through the house,” Mr Cowan said.

“This one, we had over one metre of water inside...and it all happened very quickly.”

He said the police and emergency services response to the disaster were “as if it happens every day”.

NSW Police deputy commissioner Peter Thurtell meets volunteers at the Taree flood recovery centre on Thursday. Supplied

“They have all been amazing, from the helicopter rescue, to the mini bus that took us to the bowling club on high ground for food and warm clothes, to someone coming around asking who you are and where you want to go next,” Mr Cowan said.

NSW Police Deputy Commissioner Peter Thurtell, in his role as the State Emergency Operations Controller, is on the ground in Taree to oversee the clean up and recovery effort.

With him are dozens of additional cops who have headed north to help out, including the Rural Crime Prevention team who will stay for as long as it takes to help the local communities get back on their feet.

“This is high stakes stuff...lives have been lost, livelihoods destroyed, so many communities have been impacted by this flood disaster,” Mr Thurtell said.

“And because the water level was higher than it’s ever been before, it means more families affected, more businesses impacted...there’s areas here, like Pampoolah, that have never flooded before.”

The NSW Police helicopter hovers over the Cowan’s property at Glenthorpe.

A resident is helped to a recovery centre near Taree, after being rescued by the NSW Police helicopter on 21 May.

The rural crime teams will play a critical role in working with farmers to provide advice on anything from missing stock, to theft or resecuring firearms safely.

“It’s also about engaging with farmers, working with other agencies on critical issues including mental health. Until you live through a weather event of this scale you don’t know the enormity of the impact, both financially and emotionally,” he said.

For Mr Thurtell, overseeing this recovery effort is deeply personal, as this was his community for over a decade before taking up a role in Sydney.

“It’s heartbreaking to see any community in this state of despair, but yes, it hits home a bit more when you know the area so personally, I was a member of this community for 12 years,” Mr Thurtell said.

“But I’m confident we have great teams in place, and what I’m here to make sure is that while everything is in place for recovery, that these resources don’t drop off,” he said.

Originally published as Face of fear amid flood rescue, but police boss promises help for recovery phase