A year on from record floods, NSW Mid North Coast residents are returning home
Ed Trotter has found comfort restoring his home and garden after the record-breaking May 2025 flood. (ABC News: Emma Siossian)
In short:
Communities on the NSW Mid North Coast are marking one year since record-breaking floods devastated homes, farms and businesses.
Many residents are still rebuilding, with some yet to return to their homes.
What's next?
A community support service says more government support is still needed.
Ed Trotter was away when the worst flood on record inundated his home in northern New South Wales, and he was unable to take action as paddocks transformed into lakes.
When he returned to his Glenthorne property, just north of Taree, he was shocked by the devastation.
"It was far worse than what I thought it would be like," he said.
"The way mud just seems to seep through closed doors and get into everything … I basically had to turf almost everything in the house out — bedding, flooring, curtains."
Ed Trotter was away when his house in Glenthorne was inundated in May 2025. (Supplied: Ed Trotter)
That was last May when a "one-in-500-year" flood devastated residents, farmers and businesses across the NSW Mid North Coast.
Mr Trotter spent six months living with friends before he was able to move back to his home.
"The local community and moral support, people with equipment and backhoes and things like that, the local council just clearing … and the road was just under that much mud," he said.
Ed Trotter says after the flood a thick layer of mud covered roads and properties at Glenthorne. (Supplied: Ed Trotter)
Ed Trotter says he had to throw out many possessions in his house. (Supplied: Ed Trotter)
Mr Trotter's property was originally owned by his parents, who ran it as a dairy farm.
He has decided to stay, hoping to "never see a flood like that again in my lifetime" and has taken simple flood-protection measures such as installing more water-resistant flooring.
"This house was actually built by my parents after the big '78 flood, which was as close to a record as any," Mr Trotter said.
"So it was built on silt from that flood, well above the flood level in 2021.
"You could be here for another 100 to 200 years and not see anything like it again, or it could happen next year … it's just one of those things."
Ed Trotter outside his Glenthorne home on May 29, 2025, about a week after the flood event. (ABC News: Floss Adams)
Residents yet to return home
Across the Mid North Coast, many other flood survivors are still finding their feet, with some yet to move back into their homes.
For those residents, the focus remains on making properties habitable, with flood proofing often limited to using more water-resistant materials in rebuilds.
Wingham was one of the worst-hit areas, and the local Manning Valley Neighbourhood Service, funded by the NSW Reconstruction Authority, has so far supported more than 600 people.
A year after the natural disaster, it is still taking on new cases.
"In February and March alone we had 14 new intakes," centre manager Kate Darnell said.
Kate Darnell says they have helped 600 people and some people are accessing support now for the first time. (ABC News: Emma Siossian)
"We have people to this day that are still couch surfing, are still technically homeless; still bathrooms and kitchens that are not habitable."
Wingham resident and SES volunteer Bruce Sanders said he initially felt reluctant to seek help, considering others to be in greater need, and spent months using a caravan bathroom.
Bruce Sanders still lives with no kitchen or bathroom 12 months on from the Wingham floods. (ABC News: Emma Siossian)
"My house has still got no kitchen and no bathroom, but I've now got an ensuite that works so we don't have to go outside to go to the loo anymore," he said.
Farmers stay and rebuild
Just north of Taree on the Manning River, Croki on Jones Island was hit hard.
Fifth-generation dairy farmer Craig Emerton and his wife Debbie were forced to swim to an oyster barge with their dog to be evacuated.
Craig Emerton estimates their losses are about half a million dollars. (ABC News: Emma Siossian)
They lost 80 cows and it was four months before they could move back into their home.
"It's been tough," Mr Emerton said.
"Our total losses, probably estimate half a million dollars; we're only a very small dairy."
Debbie Emerton sits at a table in her flooded home in May 2025. (Supplied: Craig Emerton)
Mr Emerton said he was slowly building back his herd, but was still about 25 per cent down on milk production.
"The rain stopped at the end of August and hasn't started properly again … we're basically in drought. We've got a green drought," he said.
"We've been flat out sowing our winter feed. Now with fuel prices, fertiliser prices, it's just making it harder and harder."
Craig Emerton has built a larger cattle mound in preparation for the next flood. (ABC News: Emma Siossian)
The Emertons have weathered a number of floods over the years, but have decided to stay.
"We love the area. We couldn't sell at the moment if we wanted to. There are places for sale, but nothing is selling on the flood plain," Mr Emerton said.
"I've lived in this house all my life. My great-great-grandfather bought the original farm in 1856."
Mr Emerton has created an additional raised flood mound for his cattle, above the 2025 flood level, and they have made some adjustments to their home, including higher storage areas.
The Emertons say community support has kept them positive. (ABC News: Emma Siossian)
"It's starting to feel a bit like home. We've been very cared for, and we can feel it," Ms Emerton said.
The cost of catastrophe
The swollen Manning River threatened to overtop the Martin Bridge in Taree in May 2025. (Supplied: Stan Groves)
In April, an extra $56.3 million in federal-state disaster recovery funding was announced, including an extra $25,000 grant for directly impacted small businesses and non-profit organisations.
The MidCoast Council said the total flood recovery cost was estimated to be about $281 million.
It has spent $49 million so far, with some key public infrastructure, including bridges that link communities, yet to be replaced.
The Bight Bridge, which connects Tinonee and Wingham, is yet to be repaired. (ABC News: Emma Siossian)
The council's director of infrastructure and engineering services, Robert Scott, said flood mitigation work was primarily being done at a grassroots level by residents using recommended materials in rebuilds.
"It was an extreme flood event, a one-in-500-year flood event, and it means trying to predict and protect properties in such an event is very costly,"he said.
"So it's very difficult for broadscale measures to be implemented.
"I think what the last year has taught us, is by being more prepared, by being more resilient in our approach as individuals...having a clear view of when you're going to leave...we are able to mitigate the impact of the floods."