NSW east coast enters sixth day of major flooding | July 7, 2022 | ACM
REHAN Bambach has been dealt a massive blow in his busiest months of the year, as thousands of dollars worth of firewood lie under floodwater at Morpeth with the worst yet to come.
The self-employed business owner has lost most of his stock, with at least eight tonnes of firewood underwater at a time when he's booked to deliver six weeks in advance.
"It's nearly broken me, this is the third time in less than nine months, and the last time was hard enough to recover from," he said.
"I don't know what will happen, it's a wait and see for what's still there and what can be saved.
"We're flat out, we're six weeks booked in advance and this will put us back two weeks or maybe longer - I'll spend the next week ringing people with orders to say I can't fill them."
He said he spent much of the last three days trying to triage items to higher ground.
"There were a lot of tools and gear we had to get out of the water, trying to get what's most important and tools are hard to replace so that's the main thing we've been trying to get up," he said.
"We're camping just up the road in the mechanics shed waiting for it to subside to start cleaning up, because the longer you leave it the worse it gets."
DESTROYED: Morpeth business owner Rehan Brambach had $2000 of firewood damaged by floods as tides rose on Thursday. Picture: Peter LorimerEVACUATION: SES crews ferried Jason Lantry and his son Kieran to Morpeth from Hinton. Picture: Peter LorimerPREPARED: Raymond Terrace's Brent Green. Picture: Max Mason-HubersFLOODS: Seven-year-old Sophie Bamford plays on equipment surrounded by rising water at Raymond Terrace. Picture: Max Mason-HubersWATER RISES: Water creeps toward a home at Raymond Terrace. Picture: Max Mason-HubersFLOODED: Morpeth business owner Rehan Brambach had at least $2000 worth of firewood destroyed by flood waters. Picture: Peter LorimerEVACUATION: SES crews evacuated Jason Lantry and his son Kieran from Hinton across to Morpeth on Thursday. Picture: Peter LorimerFLOODS: Flood waters continued to rise around Hinton and Morpeth. Picture: Peter LorimerFLOODS: SES crews were on standby at Hinton and Morpeth. Picture: Peter LorimerFLOODS: SES crews were on standby at Hinton and Morpeth. Picture: Peter LorimerFLOODS: SES crews were on standby at Hinton and Morpeth. Picture: Peter LorimerWAITING GAME: The River Royal Inn at Morpeth prepares for the worst. Picture: Peter LorimerREADY: A rescue crew member suits up for action at Morpeth. Picture: Peter LorimerHIGHER GROUND: Farm owners try to move important machinery before flood levels rise. Picture: Peter LorimerEVACUATION: SES crews ferried people across from Hinton to Morpeth. Picture: Peter LorimerEVACUATION: SES crews ferried Keiran Lantry across from Hinton to Morpeth. Picture: Peter LorimerFLOOD WATCH: Morpeth Bridge became a popular spot to watch flood levels rise. Picture: Peter LorimerRUINED: Rehan Brambach's business is run out of this industrial shed. Picture: Peter LorimerDESTROYED: Firewood Rehan Brambach was planning to sell in his busiest months of the year. Picture: Peter LorimerWATER RISES: Flood waters continue to rise across Hinton and Morpeth. Picture: Peter LorimerWATER RISES: Flood waters continue to rise across Hinton and Morpeth. Picture: Peter LorimerWATER RISES: Flood waters continue to rise across Hinton and Morpeth. Picture: Peter LorimerWATER RISES: Flood waters continue to rise across Hinton and Morpeth. Picture: Peter LorimerWATER RISES: Flood waters continue to rise across Hinton and Morpeth. Picture: Peter LorimerWATER RISES: Flood waters continue to rise across Hinton and Morpeth. Picture: Peter LorimerWATER RISES: Flood waters continue to rise across Hinton and Morpeth. Picture: Peter LorimerSTANDBY: SES crews were busy on Thursday morning transferring locals to and from Morpeth and Hinton. Picture: Peter LorimerWATER RISES: Flood waters continue to rise across Hinton and Morpeth. Picture: Peter LorimerWATER RISES: Flood waters continue to rise across Hinton and Morpeth. Picture: Peter LorimerWATER RISES: Flood waters continue to rise across Hinton and Morpeth. Picture: Peter LorimerWATER RISES: Flood waters continue to rise across Hinton and Morpeth. Picture: Peter LorimerWATER RISES: Flood waters continue to rise across Hinton and Morpeth. Picture: Peter LorimerWATER RISES: Flood waters continue to rise across Hinton and Morpeth. Picture: Peter LorimerWATER RISES: Flood waters continue to rise across Hinton and Morpeth. Picture: Peter LorimerWATER RISES: Flood waters continue to rise across Hinton and Morpeth. Picture: Peter LorimerWATER RISES: Raymond Terrace has begun to be impacted by floodwaters. Picture: Max Mason-HubersWATER RISES: Raymond Terrace has begun to be impacted by floodwaters. Picture: Max Mason-HubersWATER RISES: Raymond Terrace has begun to be impacted by floodwaters. Picture: Max Mason-HubersWATER RISES: Raymond Terrace has begun to be impacted by floodwaters. Picture: Max Mason-HubersWATER RISES: Raymond Terrace has begun to be impacted by floodwaters. Picture: Max Mason-HubersWATER RISES: Raymond Terrace has begun to be impacted by floodwaters. Picture: Max Mason-HubersWATER RISES: Raymond Terrace has begun to be impacted by floodwaters. Picture: Max Mason-HubersWATER RISES: Raymond Terrace has begun to be impacted by floodwaters. Picture: Max Mason-HubersPREPARED: Raymond Terrace resident Brent Green starts to sandbag his property. Picture: Max Mason-HubersFLOODS: Seven-year-old Sophie Bamford plays on equipment surrounded by rising water at Raymond Terrace. Picture: Max Mason-HubersWATER RISES: Raymond Terrace has begun to be impacted by floodwaters. Picture: Max Mason-HubersWATER RISES: Raymond Terrace has begun to be impacted by floodwaters. Picture: Max Mason-HubersRISING TIDES: Floodwater has begun to seep into Raymond Terrace. Picture: Max Mason-HubersRISING TIDES: Floodwater has begun to seep into Raymond Terrace. Picture: Max Mason-HubersHORSING AROUND: A horse in deep water near Morpeth. Picture: Peter LorimerRISING TIDES: Floodwaters near Morpeth. Picture: Peter LorimerHARD WORK: A postie continues to deliver his mail near Raymond Terrace. Picture: Max Mason-HubersHORSING AROUND: A horse in deep water near Morpeth. Picture: Peter LorimerGANDER: Residents gathered on Morpeth Bridge to watch the rising water. Picture: Peter LorimerRISING TIDES: Floodwaters near Morpeth. Picture: Peter LorimerINCHING CLOSER: Homes began to feel the impacts of rising floodwater at Raymond Terrace. Picture: Max Mason-Hubers
On the other side of the Hunter River, Hinton locals have been cut-off as the three roads in and out of town are inundated with water.
The river was expected to reach a peak on Thursday night, with the Hunter River reaching 9.5m at Maitland on Thursday morning and steadily rising.
Jason Lantry and his son Kieran were lucky enough to score a ride with SES crews across the river to Morpeth this morning after they received word they'd be cut off late on Wednesday afternoon.
"I had to get my son out, he had an access visit with his mum and we couldn't get out because the roads were closed with flooding," he said.
"It [the SES boat] will be used heavily over the next couple of days - it's the only way in and out.
"We've got the Victoria Hotel on the corner which is really the only food business and again I would say they have limited food supplies, the SES will ferry people across to Morpeth if they need supplies but most residents knew this was coming and had a few hours to prepare."
There are some nerves among residents as they wait for the peak to travel down from Singleton.
Most of the town is above the water level but Mr Lantry said there are a few farm properties on the outskirts that will likely be inundated with water.
"The long-term residents are aware of what happens and how it affects us," he said.
"There's quite a few new people in town experiencing it for the first time but there's no real safety concerns."
With little respite from the floods, the Victoria Hotel on Hinton's Paterson Street has become a refuge from the deluge.
With the potential to remain cut-off from neigbouring towns until Tuesday, supervisor Scott Burns said the public's main concern is if there's enough beer on tap to last the distance.
"The water is still coming up and we're cut off obviously, the locals are all in having a beer and seeing what's happening," he said.
"We started sandbagging the back of the pub incase it does keep coming up, it's right at the gutter, lapping at the gutter."
It's not the first time the Victoria Hotel has become the town's makeshift evacuation centre in a flood - the kitchen is closed with the chef unable to get into work but staff have made themselves comfortable camping out upstairs.
Mr Burns said the community is pretty calm at the moment and everyone helps each other out.
"We still have plenty of beer here, if we run out we'll see if we can get the SES to ship some over for us like last time but we should be alright for the week," he said.
"There's good community spirit around this place, everyone comes down here to get the goss and with the SES out the front they can relay all the updates to everyone.
"Everyone is helping each other out at the moment, so there's no real stress."
In Raymond Terrace, water levels have started to creep closer to homes - Brent Green spent much of Thursday laying out sandbags in front of him and his elderly neighbour's homes.
He's lived on Port Stephens Street, just a street back from the river, for the last two-and-a-half years.
"This morning when I got up the driveway was starting to fill up so I put some sandbags down, at 9am it looked like it was going back but at 12 it started to come back up," he said.
"The water is starting to come into the garage, we're trying to lift up all the appliances like the washing machine, dryer, work lights and tools to around waist height.
"I'm pretty concerned about how high it is going to reach, everyone can estimate but no-one actually knows."
Mr Green lives with his partner and two kids on the second floor and said he expected he would "cop it pretty bad".
"I'm just trying to keep the kids entertained and let them know everything is all good," he said.
"At this stage I haven't heard anything about how serious it will get ... after a gush this afternoon if it doesn't go back down and turns to high tide it could keep creeping up."
The Hunter River at Raymond Terrace was expected to reach around 3m on Thursday evening with minor flooding.
Parks and homes had already started to see the impacts by lunchtime, with the water having reached 2.75m at 1:30pm.
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