Disaster fatigue: how nine floods in six months have taken a toll on a NSW farming community

Ken ‘Sava’ Lloyd in the kitchen of his Gunnedah house, which has flooded repeatedly this year: ‘I’ve gotta admit, I’m getting really tired.’ Photograph: Tom Plevey/The Guardian

It’s the day after the ninth flood in six months in the New South Wales town of Gunnedah, and Ellen Howland is in her empty gym on the corner of Bloomfield and Chandos streets – just back from where the Namoi River broke its banks.

“Look, I’m a mindset coach,” Howland says. “I generally am very positive, but I am exhausted. I’m mentally exhausted from having to change our plans, to adapt, to pack up for floods, and then clean up from the floods, reset the business.”