April Superstorm 2015

On April 21, 2015 a disastrous storm cell started to make its way across the Hunter region.

There was little warning of the East-Coast Low and no sign of the devastating impact it would have on the region.

One year on, take a look back at the destructive force that was the April superstorm.

It took homes, it took lives and it left a scar on the region.

- By Jessica Brown

DUNGOG

It was not long before the torrential rains in Dungog turned the town to water. Homes washed away in a matter of seconds as people frantically fled from the wall of water.

Three people lost their lives in Dungog ... Colin Webb, 79, Brian Wilson, 72 and Robin MacDonald, 68.

The devastation of the superstorm in Dungog

Leonard Arnold woke with his face just inches from his bedroom ceiling on the morning of April 21– his plastic mattress had floated up on the floodwaters that swamped the town of Dungog.

Mr Arnold, 82, swam down through the water to wrench open his front door and swim toward the early morning light.

He came up for air by the roof of his home to see his neighbour, Colin "Spider" Webb, lying dead on the footpath, drowned.

“Three died and the fourth could have been me.”

MAITLAND

Maitland was inundated with rain and flood water as the storm rained down.

Entire streets were lost in Lochinvar, large rural properties became islands in a sea of stormwater and Gillieston Heights was quickly cut-off from what became the mainland of Maitland.

The precipice of the horror event came when a small silver Ford Focus was swept from Cessnock Road into the deep waters that covered grazing land at Gillieston Heights. Inside the car was mother, grandmother and great-grandmother Anne Jarmain who had ducked into Maitland for some milk. 

Mrs Jarmain, 86, never came home.

Stacy Hipwell from Lochinvar knows the force of the raging floodwaters. The young blind woman became trapped on her home's front step as water rushed and swirled around the house.

The water surged into the home, scooping up a car outside and spinning it around. Then the vehicle was flung to one side and slammed against the house.

Meanwhile, waves surged into the house, snatching up furniture and throwing items around inside.

"It was a nightmare. Then two men I think were from the SES arrived. They had a rope and they crossed the water to save my daughter.”

 - Stacy's mother Kay Hipwell 

As the superstorm unfolded over several days the hard-working members of the emergency services became the heroes of the story.

While death and destruction literally rained down from the skies, there also came tales of resilience and life.

Baby plucked from the floodwaters

Baby Chelsea was rushed through floodwaters to Maitland Hospital while police and rescue personnel were conducting a major rescue operation in the Gillieston Heights area.

Born 14 weeks early, Chelsea's lungs were premature and she relied on oxygen to help her breathe. But when power went down in the family’s Gillieston Heights home, Chelsea's mother Krystle Mordue called for help.

"We ran out of power so the oxygen cylinders Chelsea needs were also running out," Ms Mordue said.

“I rang triple-0 thinking I’d get an ambulance, but a fire truck turned up and then we had to catch two boats and an ambulance.

“The whole time I was so worried Chelsea would get wet, I just wanted to keep her warm and for her to get the oxygen she needed.”

NEWCASTLE

The wild weather in Newcastle shut the city down, with residents going without power and water for days.

There was mass damage to homes and infrastructure.

A fallen tree cut a house in half in Rankin Park. 

Brett and Maxine Walker say they are lucky to be alive after a massive gum tree cut through their home, narrowly missing the couple as they slept.

And if the horror of having the three-metre wide eucalypt tear through their roof like a butter knife at 3am was not enough, then the next hour trapped in a dark and wet building became a nightmare.

Stories like this were told by candle light all over the city.

PORT STEPHENS

Raymond Terrace was one of the worst hit areas in Port Stephens. The fast moving floodwaters engulfed part of the town and saw mass evacuations of residents.

The power went out, the water was cut-off, the roads closed and once the storm passed residents were left in a sea of eerie silence.

The community continues to rebuild one year after the severe weather event.

CESSNOCK

The Cessnock area went in to damage control when the superstorm hit. Homes in Weston, Abermain and South Cessnock were inundated with floodwater. Testers Hollow was cut-off which left many people stranded while parts of the Wollombi Valley were also isolated.  

Vincent Street became a canal with small business owners struggling to keep the deluge of water from ripping away everything they owned.

In the suburbs people stood shocked as the water rose.

RURAL HUNTER 

Some of the worst hit places were the small rural communities dotted across the Hunter. The stories of defiance and community spirit against an ever raging storm are endless.

Here we share just a few...

WOODVILLE

In Paterson a young couple were plucked from the roof of their four-wheel-drive as it was engulfed. The couple became stuck on Paterson Road in Woodville and before long found themselves marooned on the roof of the car.

The NSW Ambulance Service paramedics – Jason Watson and Dan O'Shannessy – reached the pair only minutes before their vehicle disappeared from view.

TOCAL

The storm caused major damage to the North Coast Railway at Tocal. 

Runoff from the intense rain washed out the high railway embankment across the creek and shocked former Tocal Agricultural College principal Cameron Archer.

It took 50,000 tonnes of rockfill, $7 million and an explosion to fix.

STROUD

Stroud Showground and neighbouring houses either side of Mill Creek bore the brunt of the superstorm. Most of the time, Mill Creek and nearby Mill Brook are placid, trickling waterways. But on that night, a wall of water raced its way across the showground and its adjacent camping sites, pushing buildings off their foundations and sending at least one caravan and car into the raging torrent.

It was a miracle everyone escaped...

TORRYBURN

When the superstorm finished, most people in the Hunter got to work rebuilding and cleaning. The people of Torryburn woke to find themselves completely cut-off from the world. The debris and water ripped through the town's bridge and carried it away. As the only access point to the outside world, residents were stranded.

What happened next amazed the nation. The resilient community built their own pulley system to access supplies, using just a bow and arrow.

Matt Brown, a 19-year-old archery instructor at the Maitland PCYC, shot an arrow trailing a rope about 30 metres from one side to the other.

A neighbour on the other side pulled it up, and together they created the impromptu pulley system, using a crate to hold goods from the other side.

THANK YOU

To the people who helped the Hunter community survive and eventually repair we say thank you!

Thank you to all of the emergency services, community members, volunteers and Good Samaritans.