As flood-ravaged northern New South Wales communities face the daunting task of recovery, further south, on the state's mid-north coast, people are still rebuilding their lives one year since their homes were inundated.
For some families, it's been a case of two floods within 12 months, and the journey to get back on their feet has been especially slow and difficult because of the region's rental crisis.
Jess Nichol and her family have spent the past year without a home.
Last March, a one-in-100-year flood damaged their rental property near Kempsey, and they were evicted when it was deemed uninhabitable.
Ever since, they've been moving from place to place.
Most recently, home was a camping ground near Macksville, about 50 kilometres north of Kempsey, where they were living in tents.
But then, like a recurring nightmare, they were again inundated.
"On February 25, we woke and everything was flooded," said Ms Nichol, a mum of three.
"I had to take stuff to the rubbish – it was just ridiculous.
For Ms Nichol, the past 12 months have been close to unbearable.
Ms Nichol's family have now found temporary accommodation with her brother at nearby Eungai Creek, but they are still without permanent housing.
Finding a rental property has been a huge challenge.
"In the last year, I wouldn't be able to count how many applications [we've made], and out of all [of them], we've been invited to look at two properties," Ms Nichol said.
While support services were able to provide financial help and groceries, Ms Nichol said, having a roof over her kids' heads was paramount.
'One day at a time'
Further south, Ursula Butlin is still repairing her home on the Hastings River, on Port Macquarie's North Shore, a year after it was engulfed by floodwater.
She vividly remembers the night the water rose into her house.
"It was very scary, very scary," Ms Butlin said.
"You cannot sleep because you are watching the floodwater, and then your tummy is upside down."
Ms Butlin is still waiting for repairs to her damaged kitchen and bathroom cupboards, as well as doors and doorframes.
"It's the builders, they are so busy," she said.
"Also, because this house was built in the 1960s and there's asbestos in it, we need the proper people to repair all the stuff inside, especially the kitchen and the bathroom."
While she waits for the repair work, Ms Butlin has many belongings stored under her front carport.
"Because I don't have a place to put things, I just buy some boxes and put them in a container to store them and wait," she said.
"If I rent a house, who is going to pay for it? It's very stressful."
Starting again at 82
When the March 2021 floodwaters inundated a caravan park south of Port Macquarie, about 100 people had to evacuate.
The Brigadoon Caravan Park residents, many of them elderly, have also been slowly rebuilding over the past 12 months.
Dene Harper, 82, said she had lost practically everything.
"It was such a shock — it just came up so quick," she said.
Ms Harper feels fortunate to have had family nearby to help.
"My son used to come over from his oyster business and work from 4 o'clock in the afternoon until dark, replacing plaster, floorboards, all the cupboards," she said.
"I had to have a new complete kitchen, bed, lounge, everything — everything went."
'Bigger and better'
Fellow Brigadoon resident Frank Ellul's place is liveable now and, he says, even "bigger and better".
"We've never had a front room so we've put the front room on, the deck out the back.
"Once we've done that we can get everything out of storage, which will save us $45 a week. We've been paying that for over 12 months now."
Mr Ellul knows a lot about building. So with no money to stay elsewhere while he rebuilt, he returned home a few days after the floods to start work.
"I just got in and pulled all the side of my house apart so I could save my bathroom and my kitchen and got all the mould and that taken out," Mr Ellul said.
"There are little cosmetic jobs I need to do, but other than that my wife's happy. She's the designer."
Nowhere to go
Back at Eungai Creek, Jess Nichol is concerned her chances of finding a home will be even harder after the recent floods.
She has been told the wait for housing support could be up to two years.
"It feels like the universe hates me at the moment [laughter]. I'm sure things will get better, and that's what people keep saying, 'Keep positive. Things will get better'.
"You can't even start to rebuild your house because you've got nothing … not even, like a house … to rebuild your life."
Halfway though repairs
A year on from the floods, the Port Macquarie Hastings Council has completed just over half the required repair works at more than 1,000 locations, at a cost of more than $19 million so far.
"Seeing the devastation of [the recent] floods on the north coast brought up so many emotions for many in our community," Port Macquarie Hastings Mayor Peta Pinson said.
"It has been, and will continue to be, an uphill climb, and I stress that to those still struggling, support is still available through a number of different agencies, including Resilience NSW and other accredited charitable organisations, providing people with the assistance they need to get back on their feet."
