Floods crisis: Collectors’ haven swallowed by Hawkesbury River

It was a collector’s haven, a perennial curiosity for passing tourists — before it was swallowed by the Hawkesbury River.

Gary Evans’s inundated Junk Yard at Londonderry. Picture: John Feder

It was a collector’s haven, a perennial curiosity for passing tourists, and a magnet for “pickers” from around the country — before it was swallowed by the Hawkesbury River.

The Junk Yard in Sydney’s flood-hit northwest, owned by self-described “bargain hunter” Gary Evans, has for decades attracted eccentric visitors hoping to find a diamond in the rough.

“There’s a lot of history in that place, you’ve got no idea,” the 73-year-old said, as he steered a small boat around a submerged steam train built in 1900. “I worked in demolition in Sydney for 40 years. I collected history, but this damage is unbelievable. I’ve probably lost about $200,000.”

Dozens of homes in Windsor were still fully or partially submerged on Tuesday after the Hawkesbury River peaked at 12.75m late on Monday night.

At The Junk Yard in nearby Londonderry, debris floated beside a vast collection of valuable Sydney relics, including the original Wonderland sign and a 6m-tall kewpie doll from the Sydney Olympics closing ceremony.

Mr Evans is no stranger to surviving disasters. In 2016, a fire gutted his “private museum”, damaging train carriages from the 1930s and 40s.

Recovering from this flood, he said, will be different.

“When the house burnt to the ground, it was hard, but it will take years to come back from this,” he said.

About 10km away in Windsor, a mother and her two sons were whisked to safety on Tuesday afternoon aboard an inflatable State Emergency Service dinghy.

The trio, visiting Kurrajong, had been stranded by rising floodwaters after the swollen Colo River surged beyond its banks.

Lachlan Wykes, senior operator with the NSW SES, said essential supplies had been brought in by boat to help residents isolated by flood waters in North ­Richmond.

“We’ve conducted several flood rescues over the last 48 hours,” he said, as exhausted SES volunteers delivered another group of shell-shocked flood survivors to safety in Windsor.

Among the 83 people rescued across NSW on Tuesday were Brian McGregor and Jason Pemberton, who were picked up from their flood-ravaged home at Wilberforce Caravan Park.

A family of five, meanwhile, narrowly avoided being swept away by powerful floodwaters at Colo after an SES boat capsized mid-rescue.

The family, which included two primary school-aged girls, was pulled from the water by marine rescue crews and rushed to a safe point at Windsor, where they were wrapped in blankets and treated by paramedics.