AS floodwaters crept in her front and back doors, Perthville resident Lorraine Fischbeck’s concern was with her local community.
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The Apsley Street resident and her husband John have lived in the village for the past 19 years, but said Wednesday’s flood was as big as she had seen.
As State Emergency Service (SES) crews trudged through her house with sandbags, she was fearing for the safety of two men caught in their car in floodwaters at her back fence.
Queen Charlotte’s Vale Creek had been steadily rising throughout the day, but around noon was when she feared the worst.
Floodwaters swept up toward her house, covering her entire back yard, then, just an hour later they had covered her front yard as well.
"I’ve seen it like this, but not quite so fast moving,” she said.
“I felt uneasy about 11.50am and thought I was worrying about nothing and within an hour we were in total flood.”
SES volunteer Dave Chemello was among the crews helping Mrs Fischbeck yesterday while floodwaters were approaching his own home in Perthville.
“It’s going to be close,” he said of the water approaching his own home.
Bathurst Street resident Michael Robinson said it was “nerve-wracking” watching the floodwaters approach his house.
On Wednesday afternoon, SES crews were also tasked to his house to sandbag it from the approaching floodwaters.
“If there’s more rain up in the catchment it’ll get worse,” Mr Robinson feared.
SES media and community engagement officer Charles Milne said crews were called to Perthville at midday and were still there late Wednesday monitoring flooded roads.
“In Perthville, Georges Plains and Bathurst we did two flood rescues, five storm jobs, and seven flood jobs which is sandbagging houses,” he said.
“We had 12 members in the field joined by the RFS [NSW Rural Fire Service] teams from Perthville and Bathurst and also an operations team at Bathurst headquarters.”
“We’ll be monitoring the situation in Bathurst and Perthville for the next few days and into the weekend.”
Late Wednesday, the Bureau of Meteorology issued a minor flood warning for Bathurst.
The Macuarie River’s water level is predicted to reach four metres on Thursday with minor flooding predicted.