‘‘It’s like something out of a movie,’’ says chief pilot Michael Earp, pointing at a railway bridge suspended in mid-air over Webbers Creek.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Apart from a slight kink in the middle, the bridge remains intact, defiant against the cyclonic storm that washed away its supports only 24 hours earlier.
Mr Earp, from HeliServices at Carrington, has seen a lot in 12 years in the sky. But this is a first.
He banks away from the bridge and further north towards the devastated township of Dungog.
As we come over a hill, the sleepy suburb looms ahead. At first glance it’s hard to believe it was the location of so much tragedy only a day ago.
We hover over the remnants of four houses next to Myall Creek at the northern end of Dungog’s main street. The floodwater has subsided, revealing the full affect of the storm. Cars are left strewn along the river bank among sheets of tin, trees and other debris.
Not to far away the tennis courts in Bennett Park reveal the wind gusts that rocked Dungog from its foundations. ‘‘It’s like a giant has just come along and picked them up,’’ says Mr Earp.
Earlier on we had flown over Maitland and witnessed widespread flooding in the west of the city.
Roads had become rivers and the water stretched as far as we could see. Devastation caused by a storm is always hard to quantify. But as we turned for Newcastle and passed over Seaham, Brandy Hill, Hinton, Wallalong, Nelsons Plains and Woodville, we were able to properly comprehend the extent of the flooding caused by the cyclonic conditions over the past few days.
Houses perched alone on their own private island, roads trailed off to nowhere, cattle stood huddled together on just a few metres of dry land.
Everywhere west of Raymond Terrace had been plunged beneath a giant lake.
‘‘It’s as bad as I’ve seen it, as bad as the Pasha Bulka floods,’’ Mr Earp says, nodding towards the vast pool of water.