DEIDRE Denver is barely shielded from the wind as biting temperatures blow through the makeshift shelter she's living in alongside her 13 dogs at Maitland's showground.
As floodwaters rose dangerously high, the Louth Park resident was forced to leave her property in the early hours of Wednesday with little more than the clothes on her back and her closest companions.
"It's never come up this high, even the last bad one we kept watching it - it flooded all the paddocks but it never came up this high," she said.
"I didn't want to move the dogs unless I had to.
"There's people there that have lost entire homes, the whole thing is underwater."
The first two nights, Ms Denver slept in her car with the dogs - running the heater on and off to keep herself warm.
For Ms Denver and a number of other displaced Louth Park residents - it's all they've got, unable to return home with nowhere else to go.
"As the water came up I was pretty stressed," she said.
"The first night all the dogs stayed in the car with me, the second night I put them all out under the pavillion and covered the crates with blankets.
"I was so cold, I can't explain to you how cold I was, the ice was running off my face, I couldn't stay in it any longer with the wind blowing off the water."
It could be days before she can return home to assess the damage, but despite it all, she remains in good spirits.
"It's been very cold but everyday it's getting warmer because we're coming up with ideas," she said.
"Life's starting to settle, it's all a waiting game."
