DESPITE flood water rendering his house uninhabitable and "sinkholes" wreaking havoc throughout the property, Geoff Minnis maintains he will "never leave Broke".
"The people here have been fantastic," Mr Minnis said. "The community here has stuck together. The only way they will get me out of here is in a box."
The floods in early July caused subsidence under the 73-year-old's residence, resulting in collapsed piers. The floodwater also caused erosion holes which swallowed his front fence, gate and chicken pen.
Having move to Broke from Brunkerville six years ago, Mr Minnis said the only reason floodwater didn't enter the house was that the original owner had raised the floor level slightly above the council recommendation.
Currently living at the rear of the property, in a caravan supplied by his insurance company, Mr Minnis said trades told him he won't get back into the house for "at least 12 months".
On the night of the flooding, Mr Minnis said he noticed a trickle across the driveway and "what felt like five minutes later" he and his wife were being evacuated.
"We got rescued on the night. The SES came and parked their truck and helped us walk through a bit of water to get to it and get out," he said.
"There was one guy who was coming across to let us know to get out and he just disappeared. That's how we knew there was sinkhole there. Luckily he got rescued by the fire brigade coming up the road."
Mr Minnis said access to information is limited for Broke residents. Without a solid timeframe for remediation work, the best he can do is "wait and see".
The erosion hole at the front of the property means Mr Minnis' primary access gate is gone and he has been forced to remove another section of his front fence as temporary access.
Singleton council told the Newcastle Herald that advice is being sought from Public Works NSW to "ascertain the cause of these erosion ponds/holes and how to safely remediate them".
"Geotechnical engineers have conducted initial assessments and Fire and Rescue NSW have conducted aerial imagery surveillance. Work is continuing to make this area safe," a council spokesperson said.
Volunteer with Broke Residents Community Association, Angela Andonopoulos, has been a leader in Broke's post-flood community resilience efforts.
Ms Andonopoulos said there have been "at least 30" erosion holes, like the one on Mr Minnis' property identified around Broke which are becoming a major health concern.
"For many people the major concern are these sinkholes and contaminated cesspools around their houses," Ms Andonopoulos said.
"Flood water is filthy because it goes through everyone's septic tanks."
While the town's resilience is wearing thin following bushfires, COVID and back-to-back flood events, Ms Andonopoulos said people are "starting to realise they can ask for help".
"Everyone I've talked to thinks everyone else is in a worse situation so they leave the support for them," she said.
"It's okay to ask for help. The people I've met here a are so strong and self reliant so it's getting them to realise this is a hopefully once in a lifetime vulnerable situation and we are here to help each other through it."
Council said a Local Recovery Committee, comprised of Singleton Council and agencies including NSW Police, SES, RFS, ADF, Fire and Rescue NSW, Resilience NSW, NSW Health, and Local Land Services will be meeting every week to "review current, emerging, and completed flood recovery actions".
Council also said it is currently too early to estimate the cost damages from the July floods.
"Totalling the cost of road and water infrastructure, recreational facilities, and environmental damage, as well as targeted recovery activities such as septic pump outs, will be ongoing for months."
In the days following the flood event, Broke Hall operated as a "makeshift grocery store with a million and one whiteboards, the ADF and RFS" according to Ms Andonopoulos.
Now, a couple of times a week, she is using it as a base to hand out vouchers through crowdfunding site GIVIT and to help people establish their profiles on the site for direct donations.
Ms Andonopoulos said there has been a significant amount of support from the community, such as vouchers donated by Singleton business HSV Heaven, food purchased by Glencore and funds raised through the town's GoFundMe page.
