Margaret South had yelled at 85-year old Les Vugec to run but she knew he wouldn't escape the torrent raging towards them.
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It was the morning of November 14, 2022 and Eugowra residents in NSW's Central West had woken to a normal day. By 9.30am however, water from Mandagery Creek had risen and a short time later a "rolling wave" engulfed the town, tearing houses from their foundations.
Ms South was powerless to intervene as the waters swept her neighbour Mr Vugec away. His body was found days later, one of two deaths due to the flood event in the town of 800 people.
Two months later, residents are living out of caravans and constantly relieving the terror of that fateful day.
"It was horrific. We thought we were going to die that day," she said.
"It came across trees. You could hear houses moving and people were screaming all around and I couldn't get to anyone.
"When I looked around and told Les to run I already knew that was going to get him. He didn't stand a chance because of the way it was rolling. It was just a huge wave rolling with whatever it had in it.
"I found out later it was full of canola, it was shiny in the sky coming at us."
In addition to fearing for neighbours, Ms South had to look after her daughter, six-day old granddaughter and friend.
As the waters swelled at her feet, she desperately placed both in the man hole with no escape possible.
"I was trying to get a friend who couldn't walk onto a kitchen bench, my daughter was in the manhole with a six-day old baby and she sat there for four hours and I was there for six hours waiting for someone to come and get us," she said.
"They had trouble getting us out in boats because the current was so strong that it was turning their boats around. There were at least 11 helicopters here trying to get people out."
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Her story is typical of Eugowra residents. The waters appeared without warning and caused so much damage that every single home in the town was affected in some way, many of which are now unliveable.
Government grant and insurance battles remain ongoing, but Ms South says the mental scars are of the most concern.
"We have children here who are fearful of rain, who get scared every time they hear thunder," she said.
"They went through so many traumatic things here. These kids stayed on the backs of trucks for hours watching things get swept away.
"Some people here are also too old to rebuild."
