Devastating flash floods have destroyed the Australian home of an Irish emigrant for the second time in just three months.
Ciaran Gogarty and his family are now counting the costs of repair yet again as flood waters hit just weeks after they spent AUS$40,000 refurbishing their waterlogged house, which had already been badly damaged by deluges in March.
The Co Meath native, his wife Amanda and their three young children had to evacuate their home again in early July and rely on family and friends for accommodation.
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The family are now appealing for help as they assess and try to repair the damage to their detached home in the Sydney suburb of Windsor, where they have been living for the last eight years.
Unfortunately the property is uninsured after the family couldn't afford the AUS$1500 a month that they were quoted by insurance companies against flooding.
Last month, the Hawkesbury River exceeded 13.8m, leaving many residents cut off from their homes and businesses and others trapped without power, water and food.
The Windsor Bridge, which was previously thought to be flood-proof, was completely submerged.
The extreme conditions forced Ciaran, Amanda and their three children William, nine, Grace, six and Callum, three, to seek shelter in hotels and with relatives until the water abated.
Originally from Kilmainhamwood, Kells, Ciaran, 40, and his siblings emigrated with his parents Padraig and Bernadette to Australia 30 years ago.
"The couple had spent AUS$40,000 on refurbishing it after the last flood and that was just on materials as friends in various trades gave their time and skills for free," said Ciaran's brother Eamon who lives in a neighbouring suburb.
"They had hoped to put it on the market and were about to get the floors sanded and polished on the week the last flood hit.
"The area was known to flood but in a once in every hundred years event. No-one expected all these disasters and now we are being told by weather forecasters that another rain event is expected in October.
"Ciaran and Amanda did get a quote two years ago from an insurance company, before any flooding occurred at all, but it was colossal. They couldn't afford to pay the quoted AUS$1500 every month.
"The first few times that the heavy rains hit, it really only flooded their gardens but the last two times, it was almost six foot high indoors.
"Ciaran and Amanda failed to get government assistance after the last time because they were means tested and earned $100 a week too much to get help.
"They are pretty much trapped. They probably won't be able to sell the house now and they can't afford another home somewhere else.
"They've fixed it back up as much as they can and put back in any furniture they salvaged but what do you do? Keep spending thousands on repairs, not knowing if and when another deluge will happen."
Ciaran, who works in the waste industry, admitted they have 'no choice but to keep going'
"We moved to Windsor eight years ago and it's a great place to live, aside from the floods.
"We have endured four floods in the last 18 months but it's the last two that have flooded the house. The first two only reached the garden.
"We were trying to sell the house but after the last flood, the real estate agents told us to hang in there for a few years as we wouldn't get much for the house now.
"We are just devastated. We are not sure what to do. We were hopeful that the floods were just freak attacks of nature but the long range forecast is for more rain in September and October. We are really worried. How do you do up your home again when we could be going through the same thing next month?"
Eamon's wife Brooke has now set up a GoFundMe page to give the family some help in repairing their home and it can be accessed at https://www.gofundme.com/f/rebuild-the-gogarty-family-home.
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