’The whole community will come together; it’s what we do’

Floodwaters were lapping at Tony Lippis’s porch and had already claimed his $38,000 Ford Ranger when he got the alert to evacuate his home in Sydney’s southwest.

Moorebank local resident Tony Lippis delivering food to his brother-in-law Steve Arnold from his tinny. Picture: Jane Dempster.

Floodwaters were lapping at Tony Lippis’s porch and had already claimed his $38,000 Ford Ranger when he got the alert to evacuate his home in Sydney’s southwest just after 1am on ­Tuesday.

The ute was insured “but it’s not the point”, the 55-year-old Moorebank resident said. “I love the thing and I’m really upset about it.”

The water had begun to rise nearly four hours before the alert.

With no SES in sight, Mr Lippis and his brother-in-law, Steve ­Arnold, began clearing the garage of hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of equipment and engines. “I know they [the SES] are busy but we were inundated last night, absolutely white washed in,” said Mr Lippis, a mechanic. “We got our message at 1.15am.”

He ferried one of his neighbours to safety about 4.30am and has been carting supplies to others stranded by water.

Mr Lippis said he understood communities on the north coast had been hit hard but his community also needed more help from emergency services, saying he hadn’t slept in two days. “If we get another big downpour like we did last night, we’re expecting that top floor to go under.”

Tired of waiting for the SES, Tom Geb gladwrapped the top of his gumboots to his pants and marched into neck-deep floodwaters that surrounded his son’s home. He arrived to discover water hadn’t entered the house despite engulfing the front. He knelt and thanked god.

Mr Lippis said after seven floods in 30 years, he was considering selling up. His insurance costs skyrocketed every time the area flooded and he was getting tired of the clean-ups.

“When it subsides, it just leaves this thick, stinking, filthy, horrid muck,” he said.

Across the Georges River at Milperra, 17-year-old Isaac Collier grabbed a boogie board and jumped into the flooded Vale of Ah Reserve.

“It was a bit hot at work; it’s cold down here,” said the landscaper.

A storage container is tied to a tree in the reserve while an abandoned car has almost been submerged by floodwaters.

Further west in Camden, Bruce Turton, 64, woke on Tuesday to find his sports store, Camden Beach Sports & Barefoot Bowls, almost completely submerged under fast moving floodwaters.

“The sports area I had used to be pristine with clean sands and grass, but after the water goes the whole thing will be washed away with only mud left,” he said.

Camden residents were alerted by SES emergency text messages to evacuate as Nepean River floodwaters began rising around 4am on Tuesday. By 9am, the shed housing most of Mr Turton’s equipment was almost submerged; outdoor soccer and basketball equipment were mangled.

Without insurance or adequate disaster funding, he isn’t sure his business will survive: “But you know what? I’ve got my mates and the whole community will come together and help each other out – it’s what we do in this community.”

While community spirits remain high, many residents with homes bordering the Nepean River are preparing for further flooding as the Warragamba Dam is set to release more water.

Fiona Simpson, 45, whose house sits just above floodwater limits, has offered neighbours space to safeguard belongings as water is expected to consume half the homes along the street.

For Liz Marrack and her family who don’t have home insurance despite living in flood zones, the offer was a welcome relief. “We’re expecting a surge of about 3m or 4m and the thing is we don’t know how suddenly that could happen,” she said.

Ms Marrack and her two schoolchildren along with Ms Simpson’s children have been moving furniture and valuables throughout the afternoon.

While Ms Marrack expects water damage to the house, she said there was nothing more to do than prepare the best she could.

The same is true for many Camden residents.