FAMILIES unable to get home on roads ripped apart by floodwaters have banded together in an effort to raise enough funds to fix the devastation.
Wollombi resident Rachael Thornton said the town is almost unrecognisable, leaving people stranded on properties or incapable of returning home to begin the arduous task of cleaning up.
"It's just absolute devastation, the private roads, driveways and council roads have been completely destroyed and washed away," she said.
"People can't get out, families are stuck and others with babies that evacuated now can't get back - it's awful."
The local Laguna Public School P&C, called Little Faces, Big Future, are campaigning to raise funds to help residents rebuild in the aftermath - with little help from the local council available for the private roads many rely on.
And, with a massive damage bill - they've got their work cut out for them.
Up to 10 families can rely on one private access road to get in and out of town, Ms Thornton said.
"It's up to those people or up to one family to pay for that road to be fixed because of their contract of sale," she said.
"But not everyone just has $20,000 to $30,000 worth of funds lying around to be able to do that.
"People are literally out there with shovels trying to fill the potholes, some people hadn't even made progress from the March floods and this washout is so much bigger than what anyone has ever seen out here."
She said the holes are so significant that the residents will need surge rock to fill them, which even the local council is struggling to get access to.
"Without that you can't fill the council roads to get the machinery out to start fixing private roads and driveways," she said.
"The cleanup is impossible if you can't get to your house - our idea is to get money for the surge rock and road base, if we can provide that to these families it will make a huge difference in the coming months as far as the cleanup goes."
To make a donation visit littlefacesbigfuture.com.
