A house in Buckland Avenue, Cessnock flooded on Tuesday after a drain on the road became blocked and overflowed.
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Marie Preston had just showered and was lying down as per her doctor’s orders as she has suffered two strokes in recent years.
Her husband Ralph, a Vietnam Vet, yelled out to her as water gushed through the Compass home.
Around 15 centimetres of water flowed throughout the entire house and into the backyard as Mr. and Mrs. Preston tried to block the water with mats and towels to no avail.
“It was coming straight in like a torrent,” Mr. Preston said.
They managed to save valuable smaller items by putting them up high, and a neighbour came over and picked up their two Chihuahuas.
“We got everything we could and lifted it off the ground,” Mr. Preston said.
Council staff arrived in the afternoon and were working to unblock the drain.
Mrs. Preston said she is very upset that this has happened to their house out of their control, just five days after passing an inspection.
“I’ve cried and cried, I work so hard to keep it clean,” she said.
The couple have been married for 40 years in July, and have lived in the Buckland Avenue unit for five years in May.
Compass Housing arranged for temporary accommodation for Mr. and Mrs. Preston on Tuesday afternoon.
Mr. and Mrs. Preston are still in temporary accommodation and will be there until the house is properly repaired. The repairs could take a couple of weeks.
Heavy rain and possible thunderstorms are expected to continue on Tuesday night.
For emergency help in floods and storms call SES on 132500.
Do you have photos of today's wet weather? Send your weather photos through to sage.swinton@fairfaxmedia.com.au.
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story said Compass Housing was closed on Tuesday.
Compass general manager operations Lisa Tierney said Compass Housing was not closed on Tuesday and staff responded quickly to do all they could for Mr. and Mrs. Preston.
She said Mr. Preston notified Compass of the flooding on Tuesday at around 11am and Compass immediately arranged for a tradesperson to visit the property.
Mid-afternoon, the tradesperson confirmed temporary accommodation was needed. Temporary accommodation for Mr. and Mrs. Preston was arranged by 4.30pm.
