Downstream from Lismore lies Woodburn - which gained infamy at the height of the emergency when harrowing images of people and horses stranded on its bridge were broadcast around the world.
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Publican Dan Simpson is taking a huge gamble as he is reopening the RodnReel Hotel.
It's limited hours at first, with just beer available and a small selection in the bottle shop. But it's an important first step for a town on its knees.
"One of the real worries for us is who are we opening for," he says. "There's actually no one living in the town at the moment so that is a real concern for us."
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A drive around confirms this. Apart from the odd light, powered by gas or a generator, all the shells of houses are dark. Piles of debris - once treasured possessions and memories - line the streets awaiting removal. Water still sits on the ground.
"My wife and I talked very long and hard about whether it was worth us opening again. To be frank, financially the best decision probably is to walk away."
But they've had the hotel for 15 years and love the town, which Dan says was just getting its mojo back after the Pacific Highway, which used to run along the main street beside the river, bypassed the place.
The decision to tough it out was arrived at after Woodburn received an outpouring of help from volunteers and support from the ADF and other agencies.
"The turning point for us was really all of the help that we got in those first couple of weeks." Dan mentions a man who had driven all the way from Canberra to lend a hand, staying for a week to help clean up the pub.
"It was people like that who really helped us to set our focus to reopening.
"And, you know, if the pub dies, the town dies, so we felt that it was really important that we do actually work hard and get the place open and try to make sure there are some businesses left in the town."
It's taken a mammoth effort so far and there's still a long way to go.
"You've never seen anything like it. To walk in and see walk-in freezers upside down. Every fridge in the place had popped up and fallen over and got smashed all over the place. We just walked in and went, 'Oh my god, where do you even start?'
"I remember my dad saying as we walked in, 'If you don't know where to start, just start.' And that's what we did."
Some of Dan's staff are living with his family at Evans Head because they lost their homes but whether he'll be able to keep them on is uncertain. Some have told him that unless they can work more hours, they'll have to find other jobs.
Eyes on the climate
For now, there's a small knot of locals enjoying a beer in the pub.
One of them is John Butcher, a plain spoken fellow who believes climate change is at the heart of the rolling disasters Australia has seen.
"In the last decade all these super-duper floods, the ice caps melting, prolonged droughts and more solid rain events - certainly, climate change has a lot to do with it. And look, I'm not flogging stuff on climate change, I'm just a normal person who thinks that it's happening."
As dusk falls, hundreds of squawking rainbow lorikeets arrive to roost in the palm tree by the river bank. The cacophony is deafening. John explains the birds have been coming to the same tree at the same time since it was planted.
They at least seem to know there's life left in the old town yet.
John Hanscombe
Four decades in the media, working in print and television. Formerly editor of the South Coast Register and Milton Ulladulla Times. Based on the South Coast of NSW.
Four decades in the media, working in print and television. Formerly editor of the South Coast Register and Milton Ulladulla Times. Based on the South Coast of NSW.
