WHEN Mother Nature unleashes its fury it’s difficult to predict who will win and who will lose.
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This week our friends and family in Maitland, Greta, Dungog and Raymond Terrace were the big losers.
Three people died in Dungog, a woman’s body was retrieved on Wednesday after her car was swept into floodwaters near Maitland, homes were ripped from their moorings, and many residents whose homes have been inundated do not know where to begin with the clean-up.
Rail lines, power lines, roads and telecommunications have been severely damaged and will cost a fortune to fix.
At the height of the disaster 130,000 Ausgrid customers across the Hunter were without power. As we go to press that number has come down to 95,000.
The energy provider called on Essential Energy, Endeavour Energy and Energex, from south-east Queensland, who have pitched in to help their colleagues.
About 400 linesmen are now in the field working around the clock to restore power.
By noon yesterday, the SES across the Hunter, Central Coast, Illawarra and Sydney had received 12,420 requests for assistance and completed 132 flood rescues.
Other emergency services, including police, ambulance and fire brigades, have been stretched to the limit, too.
The NSW Premier has declared 12 natural disaster areas, among them Dungog, Maitland, Singleton and Cessnock.
The Bureau of Meteorology said from 9am Sunday to 3am on Wednesday, Maitland received 443.5mm and in one 24-hour period Dungog was lashed by a deadly 312mm deluge.
In Muswellbrook, Denman, Sandy Hollow, Aberdeen and McCully’s Gap it’s a far different story.
In fact, nature has offered some salvation.
We were on the edge of the intense east coast low that caused so much damage elsewhere.
About 90mm of drought-breaking rain has fallen on lucerne crops, across sporting fields and started to run into empty dams.
Some roads were cut in the Muswellbrook local government area and will require repair but, for the most part, this was a temporary inconvenience because the rain was so desperately needed.
Muswellbrook SES dealt with a handful of jobs locally, but was called on to provide out-of-area assistance to towns in greater trouble.
SES crews from Muswellbrook have taken flood boats, fuel and sandbags to Raymond Terrace and have assisted with flood rescues.
Singleton SES crews have gone to Dungog to help the devastated town, cut off by road and rail.
Many of us will go to Anzac memorials tomorrow around the Upper Hunter.
While we honour our fallen Anzacs at dawn services and marches on their 100th anniversary, spare a thought and a prayer for family and friends in the flood-damaged parts of the region who are wondering if their commemorations are still on.
