Nearly two months after the flood peak passed, the South Australian River Murray town of Paisley is still in a pool of water — and residents have been left wondering why authorities did not do more to help them in the first place.
Some homes in town on the opposite side of the Murray to Blanchetown are just starting to become accessible, but only with knee-high gumboots and a balancing stick.
Joan and Wolf Punko said their two-storey home was built to the 1956 flood level, so they thought it would be safe, but the water rose much higher than they were expecting.
"[It is] just devastating," Ms Punko said.
"There's mould all up the walls. The water has gone into all the furniture."
The couple is hoping insurance covers the damage, otherwise they might look to sell – for a mere $10 Mr Punko jokes – wondering who would want to buy a home on a flood plain now.
Residents question lack of levee
Unlike at other towns, the District Council of Loxton Waikerie did not build a levee to help keep the floodwaters out, and residents are questioning why it did not do more to protect them.
Ms Punko thinks because other towns were so well protected by levees, but Paisley was not, they were harder hit.
"Everywhere else had levee banks and things like this and we were just left, and the water just flowed through," she said.
"They didn't do anything."
The council's infrastructure director, Greg Perry, said it did look at building a levee between the river and the town, but the road it would have built it on was not wide enough.
"Unfortunately, you haven't got the road width to be able to go to the height of a couple of metres … to actually keep the water out," Mr Perry said.
"We looked at it, we actually talked to SES (the State Emergency Service) about possibilities … but it just wasn't a suitable place to be able to construct something like that."
The council is now using a pump to help remove the water — at 150 litres per second.
"It'd be a good two and a half to three metres deep or even deeper in some points," Mr Perry said.
Rates rebates being offered
This was the Punkos' second home. But other Paisley residents have been living in caravans since December and still do not know when they will return.
Given this, Mr Perry said the council had moved to rebate two periods of council rates for those severely affected by the high floodwaters — something residents would need to apply for.
Other local councils told the ABC they were looking at similar relief.
As the water continues to subside, councils have also been assessing roads near the river that remain closed.
Mr Perry said the moisture content had to be inspected to ensure the roads were safe, including for heavy vehicles.
Work is also being done to restore power, where possible, but so far only 300 connections have been restored.
SA Power Networks said its teams were undergoing repair works to the main power lines, so electricity could be restored when the floodwater reduced further.
But homes and businesses still need to be individually cleared by electricians.
