MARGRET Meagher knows what it’s like to be alone in an flood-isolated community with a dead phone, no electricity and water the only sound from the outside world.
She lives on Port Macquarie’s North Shore, which was again surrounded by water last week, four years after devastating floods ravaged the town.
“Last time those six days were just really eerie, strange and difficult,” Ms Meagher told AAP.
“You get very displaced, and you listen to just the silence of the water lapping underneath your house and coming up your stairs.”
Despite the North Shore’s isolation, the community has stayed connected throughout the disaster.
The community Facebook page pinged with notifications as people told each other when and where an emergency boat service was dropping off supplies.
But the story of a resident who fended off a kangaroo that was trying to drown someone has received the most attention.
“Something like this (Facebook page) brings out the best in any community because people come together and they’re looking at how they can support each other,” said Ms Meagher, who is the project director for Hello Koalas.
“It’s not just you talking to someone on the other side of the fence, it’s also talking to hundreds of people who live in this small community.
“People feel they’re isolated, so that’s where the whole community spirit is so pivotal because if people don’t feel isolated, they have greater strength to cope with the trauma of what’s happening.”
By Sebastian TAN, AAP
