As the threat of a second major flood in the space of a month rises yet again in the NSW Northern Rivers, many residents are rattled by the thought of more rain.
"Even if it clears up it could rain again in a month or two and Lismore has this ongoing problem, which seems to be getting worse," Lismore resident Kerry Walker said.
An evacuation order for parts of Lismore protected by the city's flood levee has been issued for the second time in 24 hours.
Lismore business owner Bob Burnell became emotional as he shared how grateful he was for the support of his friends when he was preparing for potential flooding.
"We're putting everything back in place ready to reopen … and this happened and we had to put everything back [up high] again," he said.
Ms Walker and Mr Burnell both seemed exhausted, a feeling shared by people across the flood-weary Northern Rivers one month after a catastrophic flood event showed no mercy.
And despite the threat of ongoing floods still lingering, the region is still in the depths of a relentless flood recovery operation that looms large.
Sahra Mills is from Coffs Harbour, and has been volunteering in the flood-damaged towns of Coraki and Woodburn.
Ms Mills said residents were finding it hard to keep going.
"Their mental health has really started to deteriorate," she said.
"Obviously, in the first few days you're sort of running on adrenaline then reality starts to set in.
It was something health authorities had noticed too.
"Certainly what we've seen is that the demand for support for anxiety, distress, and trauma post floods has escalated markedly, particularly in the Lismore local government area," the chief executive of Health North Coast, Julie Sturgess, said.
'Cut yourself some slack'
Steve Carrig is with the local Mental Health Disaster Recovery Team and said it could take people three to four years after a disaster event to "feel like they're back to where they were".
He said, over the past five years, the Northern Rivers community had suffered through the 2017 flood, followed by bushfires, then the COVID pandemic and now the most recent flood event.
He said people should "cut themselves some slack" and seek help if they needed to.
"After four to six weeks, if people don't seem to be returning to a healthy level of functioning maybe that's an opportunity for them to reach out to get some professional help," Mr Carrig said.
He said 80 per cent of people would pull through with the support of family and friends.
"Given an opportunity to connect, tell their story in a safe place … goes a long way in helping people get through this."
The mental health of the flood-battled region is something a new service is also hoping to address, with "Head to Health" opening its doors at Lismore's Southern Cross University this week.
The service is led by not-for-profit mental health provider Neami, with the support of federal funding.
Operations director Jacklyn Whibrow said Neami had expertise in providing support to communities immediately after natural disasters, including in Townsville, Queensland, after its major floods.
Ms Whibrow said the focus was trauma response and working with people in distress.
"If you are waking up and having thoughts and feeling threatened, it's time to seek support" she said.
