Since 1979, Ross Files has lived in his modest home on the banks of the Darling River at Menindee.
Now he is one of up to a dozen home owners who have been warned by the New South Wales State Emergency Service to prepare to evacuate.
Mr Files was born in the town in 1939 and has seen both the good and the bad, including the 2018-2019 fish kills that devastated the area.
But he said he was enjoying the water running past his property at the moment.
"I love it where it is, but I know that it's going to come higher," he said.
"I just hope that it doesn't force me out.
"We are completely surrounded by water right this very minute, but it's great."
'Mixed messages'
The Darling River is expected to peak at 9.4 metres this week, but some in town have questioned the timing of when information has been distributed.
"Last week we were still hearing 9.1 [metres] until the middle of November, and Water NSW had said 9.2 [metres] at the start of the week, so it's been mixed messages," Menindee resident Graeme McCrabb said.
"You'd like to think that the models that they are working on at the moment are provided to the community.
"Water New South Wales [or] BOM … should be providing those models, not just a number that we might think we get to," he said.
In a statement, a Water NSW spokesperson said: "As part of its customer engagement program, Water NSW meets regularly with Lower Darling landholder representatives and other stakeholders, and frequently distributes information via operational updates."
'Basically no notice'
Menindee Tourism Association president Rob Gregory said most of the region's long-term residents were seasoned veterans when it came to flooding.
"For all the locals that have been following this event, it was just a natural assumption we were going to head into a pretty large flood event," he said.
But the prepare-to-evacuate order caught many by surprise when it was issued on Sunday afternoon.
"There was sort of no lead-up information regarding going higher than 9.2 metres on the town gauge," Mr Gregory said.
"It's just unnecessary panic, there's a lot of elderly people in town and there have been no town meetings."
A meeting has been scheduled for Menindee Town Hall on Friday, where residents will have a chance to have their voices heard.
Water NSW, SES, Family and Community Services, police and the local council are expected to be in attendance.
Ongoing road closures
Recent heavy rain and the overflowing Darling River had caused problems with the roads around Menindee.
"We've got the most dirt roads in New South Wales [in] the Central Darling Shire, and certainly a lot of those roads are cut," Mr Gregory said.
Some locals said they believed homes were unlikely to be inundated at a river level of 9.4 metres.
Driveways and road access has already been cut off in some low-lying properties, with more expected to be impacted if the water levels continue to rise.
