Inland tsunami wreaks havoc at Eugowra

While there can never be a price put on human life, damage from the freak event last Monday is expected to run into the millions with more than 200 homes damaged and 21 completely destroyed.

The damage occurred when in the early hours of last Monday morning, the Mandagery Creek peaked at record levels due in large part to catchment areas receiving 100mm to 120mm of rain in a very short time.

The State Emergency Service (SES) chief superintendent Ashley Sullivan, who was on the ground at Eugowra, said the fast nature of the event caught everyone by surprise, including producers.

"Because it was a flash flood, there wasn't that time to prepare and move much livestock," he said.

"There was very short windows in terms of the amount of rain that fell and water rising and we pretty much went straight into that rescue operation.

"With flash floods, there is significant loss of livestock. A lot of the time you don't know the full picture because you never find them. They end up downstream."

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SES operational readiness officer Joshua Clark said some livestock losses were evident as soon as they hit the ground on the Monday afternoon.

"When we arrived we were confronted with livestock losses," he said.

"Most of the losses have been sheep but we have seen some cattle too.

"We found a number of sheep strewn right across town and they have come from well out of Eugowra.

"Further down stream, we found a paddock where there was 40 to 50 sheep in varying degrees of conditions, which required the vet to euthanise."

Eugowra local Brendan Mansbridge and some of his work colleagues at Kevin Miller Witty Lennon (KMWL) are helping with the clean up.

Mr Mansbridge, who lives on a property between Eugowra and Goolagong that flooded 140 hectares of crops which are now lost, really felt the impact of the freak event.

"Being local and seeing the impact in town, it has been a bloody hard week," he said.

"We have been getting the Rural Transaction Centre up and running again.

"It's Eugowra's post office, Reliance bank and provides many government services. We got it up and running again this week."

Mr Mansbridge said KMWL had many clients affected by the flooding.

"Along the Mangdagery Creek, clients have lost significant numbers including some who lost hundreds of ewes and lambs, and some cattle," he said.

"Some of that was even stock moved onto higher ground but the water went into areas where it has never gone before.

"The stock was moved onto higher ground, unfortunately just not high enough."

The speed of the water rising and the height it reached caught many by surprise.

"The headwaters of the Mandagery Creek received 200mm of rain in a fast time," Mr Mansbridge said.

"Some producers 15 to 20 kilometres out of town were moving stock and feed at 2am knowing it was going to flood but, as there is no real time recording at the headwaters, had no idea about the extent of it."

Mr Mansbridge now has concerns for the long-term future of some clients.

"These farmers have been hit hard," he said.

"It's not just livestock either as some have also significant amounts of crops.

"It is going to have a large impact on their economic viability."

At Burrill Creek, a Sandy Lane Merino producer, who did not want to be named, lost more than half a flock when the creek flooded during the same event.

Situated 20km south of Peak Hill, the producer had 1200 Merino sheep in a paddock he considered high ground, but 650 succumbed to the quickly rising water. He also lost crops, pastures and fences.

"It hasn't flooded there since 1974," the producer said.

"The whole paddock went underwater with water going right up to the house.

"Within three hours of the rain beginning to fall, we had suffered these losses. That's how quickly the water got up. We found 70 dead sheep west of our property, further down the creek.

"We have scanned and lamb marked the remaining sheep which were in that paddock and they look OK. It could've been worse."

For Uley White Dorpers stud principal Kent Boyd, there was dry ground in the paddock, between Lake Endeavour and Parkes, but the sheep didn't have time to move to it.

"We lost two generations of stud ewes which is a big hit," he said.

"The nature of the event meant the sheep didn't have time to move to higher ground. While it is sad for this to happen, I'm sure there are many people who were hit harder than us. Our thoughts are with them."

With widespread losses across the state, there has been a number of fundraisers kicked off to help flood affected communities.

At Molong, a fundraising page has been created to rebuild the town's sporting and recreational facilities. Visit: www.gofund.me/2c3a12c8

To help fundraising for Eugowra, Funds 4 Floods has been established in partnership with The Grenfell Lions Club.

All donations will go to the GIVIT Foundation, which will distribute the funds directly to those affected in Eugowra.

There will also be a fundraising event on December 17 at 4pm at the Grenfell Bowling Club.