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Speaker 1: This is gem Nation with Jones well terrifying times. Hundreds

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Speaker 1: of homes are under thread as a new South Wales

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Speaker 1: flood crisis worsens. Residents in Forbes are now being displaced

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Speaker 1: and bracing for further floodwaters. The waters are still rising

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Speaker 1: throughout this morning. It's not just property being lost, livelihoods,

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Speaker 1: souls being broken. Forbes Deputy Mayor Chris of Roylan said

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Speaker 1: the town was being cut in half by rising floodwaters,

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Speaker 1: and almost in thirds actually because the downtown area is

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Speaker 1: also been evacuated this morning. He's on the line now,

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Speaker 1: Good morning, Chris.

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Speaker 2: Good morning Amanda, Hey Chris.

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Speaker 3: Because your town was pretty much a tale of two

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Speaker 3: cities for a bit there.

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Speaker 2: Yes, yes, it's probably three cities at the moment because

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Speaker 2: the north side's cut off from the south side and

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Speaker 2: the central business district sit rights back in the middle

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Speaker 2: of an island. So it's a very sad situations, the

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Speaker 2: aren't it.

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Speaker 1: Some residents describe the floods coming through like a wildfire.

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Speaker 1: Is that how it felt at the time, Well.

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Speaker 2: The people at New Gowa certainly was that that happened

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Speaker 2: very quickly, very much like Lismore. Whereas we get it

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Speaker 2: about a day later, it just slowly rises and comes

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Speaker 2: up and it's actually rushing through at the moment of

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Speaker 2: looking at it right now, it's roaring through it. But

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Speaker 2: New Gowa is the problem one.

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Speaker 1: At the moment, I reckon, how are people coping? Because

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Speaker 1: this is a second flood in two weeks. Souls are broken?

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Speaker 1: What stories have you heard, Chris?

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Speaker 2: You know what I mean. I watched this community all

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Speaker 2: the time. Bring emotor tears now actually, but they're just

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Speaker 2: beautiful people and they've gone through a very hard time,

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Speaker 2: through droughts and everything you can think of, you know,

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Speaker 2: mouse plagues and COVID and whatever else. And the business

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Speaker 2: community have stuck through that. They've done very well to

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Speaker 2: keep their chin up. This is hurting them, I'll tell you,

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Speaker 2: this is hurting big time. Plus our farming community they're

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Speaker 2: in trouble too because they're just getting crop losses and

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Speaker 2: cattle and sheep losses and sad. So I'll tell you.

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Speaker 3: And it's just I think for twenty eighteen, I was

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Speaker 3: I was out there on my motorbike and I was

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Speaker 3: getting fueled and I said to the guy at the server,

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Speaker 3: I said, where the director is going to rain? He said, well,

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Speaker 3: good luck with that. And now I look at you

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Speaker 3: guys just being inundated.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, well that's what happens. Mate. What really hurt us

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Speaker 2: was last Sunday we had five inches of the rain

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Speaker 2: and I just came down in sheets. I'll tell you,

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Speaker 2: I've never said something like that here. It was very tropical.

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Speaker 2: And that's just when you straight away when we got

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Speaker 2: up Monday morning, when you were in trouble. So it was.

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Speaker 2: It's pretty sad to watch money.

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Speaker 1: We heard of one man who's been living in a

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Speaker 1: motel since the flood started two weeks ago. He doesn't

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Speaker 1: know how much longer he can afford it. Are you

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Speaker 1: going to be pressuring the government to help to step

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Speaker 1: in right now and provide help. We spoke to our

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Speaker 1: premier earlier who said that's going to be one of

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Speaker 1: his priorities is to get money where it's needed.

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Speaker 2: Look, I've been talking to our local members, both state

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Speaker 2: and federal, and they're putting as much they hit on

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Speaker 2: their own people to get something done. You know, Look,

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Speaker 2: I don't know what's going to happen out of that,

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Speaker 2: but there's something going to happen.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, Well, and you look at it, you're not alone

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Speaker 3: everyone in Sydney around Australia, all their eyes are on

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Speaker 3: Forbes and what's happening as well, and also Wyangler dam

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Speaker 3: as well. It's good to hear where the premiere on

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Speaker 3: this morning and he was saying, although he didn't give

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Speaker 3: an exact time of when they would be raising the

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Speaker 3: damn wall, but it's certainly a top priority.

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Speaker 2: Well, Dominic's been saying for a while that we need

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Speaker 2: to raise the wall, but we're waiting for the business

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Speaker 2: plan to be put in place. Now. I don't know

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Speaker 2: how long it takes to put a business plan together.

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Speaker 2: It's been about four years now, I think, So you know,

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Speaker 2: it's time to stop all that nonsense. Yeah, a lot

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Speaker 2: of political stuff happened in the background that we don't

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Speaker 2: get to see or understand, and we just need something done,

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Speaker 2: you know.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, Chris, I can hear the frustration and the sadness

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Speaker 1: in your voice right now. What would you like to

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Speaker 1: say to us? What can we do?

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Speaker 2: Oh? Just cross your fingers. Look, we've got a really

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Speaker 2: good place at the moment, and it's it's pretty good

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Speaker 2: to watch everyone's helping sees and the rural Fire Service

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Speaker 2: and fire and rescue people there's there's heaps of people

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Speaker 2: that are involved in this, but it's just so sad

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Speaker 2: to watch people's livelihoods just washed away. And you know

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Speaker 2: a lot of people this is their superinuation, you know,

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Speaker 2: business people of that, you know, and it's just so

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Speaker 2: sad to say, I'll tell you, yeah, well.

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Speaker 3: When the times like insurance as well, you know, I

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Speaker 3: was just reading forty thousand dollars to ensure your house

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Speaker 3: in some of those low lying areas. You're thinking you

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Speaker 3: can't afford that, you.

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Speaker 2: Can't afford that, that's dead right, you cannot afford that year.

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Speaker 2: And actually I'm just waiting for a guy to come

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Speaker 2: across in one of the fire trucks. He's an Ambo

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Speaker 2: and we're going to go out to you gar and

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Speaker 2: try and help them out there and see what we

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Speaker 2: can do. So we're going to go a really long

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Speaker 2: way around to get there. So yeah, that's good.

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Speaker 3: Well you're in if you need anything, you're not. You

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Speaker 3: guys are a layer.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, let us know what we can do.

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Speaker 2: Thank you, Thank you very much yourself.

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Speaker 3: Our Deputy Mayor of Forbes, Chris Roylandsley