Residents of a town in which 90 per cent of buildings were destroyed or damaged by a "wall of water" are today coming to terms with the massive recovery task ahead of them.
An inland "tsunami" made its way downstream towards the town of Eugowra on Monday morning.
The town's flood alarm system sounded in the early hours of the morning, warning residents in low lying areas prone to flooding they'd need to evacuate.
Then at 6.15am, an emergency alert was issued by the SES to all residents, but it was too late to leave.
Jodie Greenhalgh and her son's partner, 18-year-old Molly Beasley, slept through the first alarm.
Instead, they were woken by phone calls from friends asking for help about 4am.
"Obviously we all got in our cars and off we went, trying to help everyone out, but little did we know our house was going to go under," Ms Greenhalgh said.
They brought friends back to their home, which was on higher ground and had never flooded before.
Ms Grenhalgh said the wall of water came from nowhere.
"It happened in five minutes," she said.
"It was like a tsunami, just a huge wall of water coming at us from both directions.
"We were running for our lives."
She said it was the most scary moment of her life.
"There were cars getting swept away, cars floating, people in cars, people swimming through floodwater, there were babies in our arms, it was just insane," Ms Beasley said.
"You can't explain it unless you're in it."
Her family and other evacuees at their home managed to get on the roof, where they waited for seven hours before coming down and helping to rescue some of their neighbours.
Tragic discovery
Meanwhile, the body of a woman was found this morning by police who had been searching Eugowra for two missing people.
It is believed to be that of a 60-year-old woman who had been missing since Tuesday.
A search is continuing for 85-year-old Ljubisa "Les" Vugec, who is believed to be missing in floodwater.
More than 150 people were rescued as a result of the flood on Monday, a fifth of the town's population.
90 per cent of the town was evacuated.
'Like a war zone'
Residents began returning to their homes yesterday, only to find many of them beyond repair.
Tim Townsend said he was away on Monday night, but his neighbours told him later his building was hit by a wall of water.
He came home Tuesday.
"I couldn't stop here at first," Mr Townsend said.
"I kept driving and came back later, a bit better prepared."
He said he was sifting through his belongings, working out what he could save.
"When you're cleaning up, you pick up one item at a time and do it one day at a time," he said.
Ms Beasley described the aftermath as heartbreaking.
"It's like a war zone," he said.
Blake Osbourne was working at a nearby mine on night shift when the flood hit, and his partner and children were away.
He said he never thought the water would even reach his home during a flood, but when he woke up at 11am after a nap, everything was gone.
"We're pulling everything out of the house, there's an inch of mud through everything, everything is water damaged," he said.
"We're not insured, no-one is insured because we're in a flood area and no one will insure us.
"A lot of people won't be able to rebuild and they'll just have to leave."
Ms Greenhalgh said her home business was also totally destroyed.
"My whole livelihood is gone, everything I've worked hard for is gone," she said.
Massive toll
The Western Local Health District said 12 people had been taken to Orange Hospital and a few had since been discharged.
Cabonne Council said 90 per cent of the buildings in Eugowra had sustained damage and an assessment of homes and businesses was expected to be finished by late Wednesday.
Work is now being carried out to restore water, sewerage, electricity and phone services.
The council said it was not safe for people to return to their properties until the work was completed.
Emergency accommodation is also being organised, with plans for temporary homes to be brought into the town or people being housed in neighbouring communities.
Three other towns in the Cabonne district have also sustained significant flood damage.
The council said repairs would be required on about 30 homes at Molong, 20 in Canowindra and about 12 in Cudal.
Transition to recovery
Western Zone superintendent Brigid Rice said the flooding and flood damage was beyond anything anyone in the town had seen before.
"The floods we’ve seen over the last four weeks have broken every type of record," Ms Rice said.
"We’re moving out of the response phase now and we will transition into recovery.
"The days, weeks and months moving forward are very long."
Emergency accommodation is being organised for people with nowhere else to go.
A warning to boil water has been issued to to residents.
The State Emergency Service is also asking anyone who evacuated to register on the reunite list through the Red Cross so loved ones know they are safe and accounted for.
