At 2,000 feet above the New South Wales-Queensland border, an SES team is taking note of isolated communities and townships.
Floodwaters sprawl out to the horizon, piercing their way through fields and major roads.
The team's destination is Mungindi, a rural town with a population of just several hundred people, many of them Indigenous.
Their task is close to the heart of Aboriginal man and volunteer SES Community Liaison Officer Marley Blair.
"Often, Aboriginal communities are left behind in the preparedness process of a natural disaster," he said.
"It's kind of a goal of mine to say, hand on heart when I walk away, I've spoken with these communities, and we're able to get them prepared."
Floodwaters are slowly making their way to the community, with the peak expected early next week.
Although the town is unlikely to flood because of its levee, SES Commander Mitchell Parker says it could be isolated for up to three weeks.
"That's going to be a huge strain on the community [itself], but also on the services having to provide the deliveries to those communities."
Landing in the town, the team help deliver a chopper-load of supplies for the community, before speaking to the Mungindi Local Aboriginal Land Council chief executive, Gemma Naylon.
Her key concern is if the town runs out of medication needed by its residents.
She also says miscommunication in previous disasters has been an issue.
"Half the time, most community members don't know what's going on and they're unaware of what's going to happen," she said.
This time around, she says, she's buoyed by having the community liaison officers in town.
"Luckily, we have an Indigenous person with us here, [who] we can actually contact and hear what's going on," she added.
'Mum's been crying. Dad's been stressed'
Back in Moree, the floodwater has disappeared, but the clean-up is ongoing.
Bianca Payne's home was once again filled with water — this time from a high-pressure hose, as half a dozen Fire and Rescue workers blasted the mud away.
While hundreds of residents made the decision to stay in their homes, against SES advice, Ms Payne said she left without question, because she feared her family could drown.
"Especially when you suffer with anxiety. I thought a lot about that," she said.
Just a few blocks away, the home owned by Joseph Coleman's parents was washed down by NSW Rural Fire Service volunteers who had driven more than 300 kilometres from their seaside station to help.
His parents were in Canada when the flood swept through.
"Mum's been crying … Dad's been stressed about it all. It's hit them pretty hard," Mr Coleman said.
When the RFS volunteers were asked about why they'd driven so far to help, their answer was emphatic.
"It's not a pretty job. Not a pretty job at all," Mick Coleman said, his hands caked in mud.
"But it's got to be done and we'll do whatever we can to help the people of Lismore … even Moree," he laughed; correcting a slip of the tongue made by so many who have spent much of 2022 responding to extreme weather.
An SES member described the past two years as "rinse and repeat".
Crop devastation could cost millions
SES crews have been examining the widespread damage to homes and infrastructure across Moree.
By their estimates, 800 properties were hit by floodwaters, with 122 deemed uninhabitable.
Commander Mitchell Parker said restoring Moree back to how it was "could take several months".
"We've got the crops that have been damaged. We've got communities that have been isolated and we've got a lot of access issues," he said.
Just weeks before he was due to harvest, Moree's Tony Bailey says he lost up to 40 per cent of his canola crop, damage he approximates could cost him millions of dollars.
Regardless, the long-time local says he's sure good times will return.
"We're good gamblers, farmers, so we hope, in the next two or three weeks, it dries down and we'll be able to get on to a fair bit of this and salvage a bit," he said.
Moree mayor Mark Johnson shares that wish for a turn of fortune.
"We'll bounce back, but, yeah, Mother Nature does need to play its part for a change," he said.
