Residents along the Billabong Creek at Jerilderie are anxiously watching as the creek starts to rise again, fearing more chaos.
While remaining fairly steady for the last week, in the past few days the water has risen up to 2cm a day.
Massive swathes of land around the Billabong Creek and Wangamong Creek are now under several metres of water, which is set to remain for some time.
There is also widespread flooding along the Jerilderie-Conargo Rd as a result of flooded creeks overflowing.
Russell Ford, who has lived on the Billabong Creek for almost 30 years, says this is the worst flooding in the area he has ever seen.
Residing at Brookvale, about 5km west of Jerilderie on the Conargo Rd, Mr Ford is currently working on alternative ways to get water to stock and the property’s gardens, after parts of the property required sandbagging and new levees.
“You don’t think you need to get water when there’s so much around,” he said.
“But we had to put up some small levees and sandbags to keep the water out of here. Since it’s been dry the past few days, now we need to make sure we have enough for stock troughs.”
Mr Ford said he has lived on the Billabong Creek for 28 years and had “a few decent floods” come through in that time, with 2016 the last.
“But, this is the highest I’ve ever seen the water,“ he said.
“Our tracks have been impacted into and out of the property by the Billabong Creek.
“And the Wangamong Creek at the south end of the property is also impacting us.”
Mr Ford and his neighbours have all been carefully watching the water levels upstream, especially from the Columbo Creek and the Billabong Creek near Walbundrie.
"None of us are isolated at the moment, but some have to use other means to get to their residences - motorbikes, tractors, all sorts of things.“
Describing the current floodwaters as “not fast flowing, just high”, he believes there is potential for them to impact local residents for quite some time to come and the recovery will take even longer.
“We’re all pretty much aware the peak is still coming, and because the water’s moving so slowly, we’ve had a lot of time to prepare,” he said.
Mr Ford thanked Murrumbidgee Council for the efforts it has made to ensure all residents are well informed of the latest flood information.
“They came out in a fire truck and did a run through of all the properties that are impacted,” he said.
“They worked their way down the creek and have provided sandbags and dirt for pushing up levees. They dropped off five or six loads here.“
In a statement to Murrumbidgee Council’s November meeting last week, Mayor Ruth McRae said the weather was testing local residents “unreasonably”.
She said the last month had seen that local government area “impacted from the Murrumbidgee River in the north to the Billabong and Wangamong Creeks in the south, and everywhere in between”.
“The rivers are full, the creeks are full, the vast agricultural landscape is sodden and immersed in water, and some of our residents have experienced inundation in their homes and workplaces,” Cr McRae said.
“Our road network is being truly tested, and what is clearly apparent is that the recovery and remediation process across all facets of our business is going to be a long haul, not a short sprint.
“I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge and thank all of council’s staff - to those of you on the front line the last month has been a challenge, whether it be our roads teams, water and sewer operators, town maintenance or our management and customer service staff, we thank you for always having our communities best interests at heart.”
Murrumbidgee Council general manager John Scarce said the SES was the lead agency in all local flood operations, but overall it was an enormous collaboration of a range of different government and non-government agencies.
Mr Scarce said their roles ran “right through every stage of the situation from preparation, to incident control, through to recovery and remediation”.
He thanked all of the agencies, organisations and other people who have played a part in keeping the Murrumbidgee Council community safe.
“I would also like to acknowledge our council team who have been working tirelessly across the whole council area to ensure the community are prepared and alert for possible water inundation from the rain events,” Mr Scarce said.
“It has been, and will continue to be, a whole of organisation response with many council staff involved, from the personnel out at the coalface of the operations, to the indoor staff getting the message out and responding to enquiries.
“We know there’s areas that can be improved; as with any response, we look at the outcomes, listen to the community and other experts, and make sure we do better next time.”
In regards to roads, Mr Scarce said there had been a devastating impact from the rain and flooding on the entire road network across the state, and local roads were no different.
“Road closures and disruptions have been constant in our council area, as they have in others,” he said.
“With fine weather predicted for this week, residents will see council teams out repairing roads throughout the area.
“This will take time as we need to ensure it is done properly and we ask the community to be patient.
“We still have a number of roads closed and urge all travellers to heed road closed signs, for their safety and to avoid further damage to the road surface.
“If you believe a road should be reopened near you, please give us a call at council and we can review it.”
Announced this week, Murrumbidgee Council will receive $545,835 from the Fixing Local Roads Pothole Repair Round, prompted by damage due to the wet conditions.
Berrigan Shire Council has been awarded $471,489 from the same program.
In terms of the situation in Jerilderie, Mr Scarce said it had been, and will continue to be, closely monitored while low lying areas along the Billabong Creek experience some inundation.
“One thing for sure is the mosquitos are atrocious as the moment.
“I urge everyone to protect against them, particularly as we know the dangers of Japanese Encephalitis and other mosquito-borne illnesses.
“Speak to your doctor about getting the Japanese Encephalitis vaccine.
“In the meantime, we urge everyone to make sure their property is prepared for the storm season and predicted higher than average rainfall.
“You can safeguard your property by checking that your roof, guttering, downpipes and drains are free from debris.
“If your gutters or downpipes are blocked and we get heavy rain, it could flow into your roof cavity, causing serious damage.
“You should also trim trees and branches that could potentially fall on your home or property.”