But the men rattle off a dozen reasons to save the town:it houses workers from one of the country’s biggest dairy farms and gives young people an affordable place to live compared with ballooning house prices in nearby Orange,or more expensive rent in nearby centres Parkes and Forbes.
“And it is a great lifestyle,” Barnes said. “We have beautiful green paddocks. You can walk down our street and not lock your house,not lock your car. We don’t have that pressure. We can go to the pub and there’s no fights;if we want a hand someone will help us out.
“We can get most things here - those we can’t are[half an hour away] with no traffic lights - and we wave at people going past because we know everyone. They’re silly little things,I know,but they’re what makes our community strong.”
He mentions football jumpers that have been hung on poles around town. “When I got up this morning and went downtown - I’m crying about it now - some young fellow has put their football jumper to remind us how proud we are of our little town,” Barnes said.
“We’re just busting to get this mess out of our face. Let us rebuild everything - and that’s rebuilt our spirit and our community.”
But rebuilding will bring challenges;most Eugowra residents are largely uninsured,with flood insurance premiums at about $30,000 to $40,000 a year. Likein the Northern Rivers earlier this year,townspeople are afraid the high costs will mean governments avoid rebuilding on flood-prone land.
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Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles on Wednesday said the federal government would talk with state counterparts about the potential for more land buybacks in flood-ravaged parts of NSW,although Premier Dominic Perrottet has stopped short of promising a Northern Rivers-style program for the waterlogged Central West,saying solutions would meet local needs.
Local federal MP Andrew Gee has called for both levels of government to support the region.
Hay and Barnes want the same - but regardless of the chance of future floods. “We need the government to step in. Don’t legislate us out of existence,give us a hand,” Barnes said.
”Do you throw your hat in the air and say:this is what’s going to happen every year,give up and forget about it? No,you don’t. You say:let’s see what happens before you write us off,and write all towns like Forbes and Cowra and the thousands of other towns that were built on rivers.“
Local businessman Judd McKenna moved to Eugowra in 2016 and has no plans to leave. “The town is a beautiful town,it’s a magic town. Whether it be the gardening club,the mural committee the men’s shed,craft on the creek - all these little community groups that mend themselves together to make this one big hive of good honey,so to speak,” he said.
Several residents of the tight-knit country town are determined to rebuild.Credit:Rhett Whyman
Over recent years,McKenna and others have worked to make Eugowra a central west “destination town” in its own right,and these days it’s bustling on the weekend. “There’s good coffee,good food. People will come and see the beautiful area,the murals,they’ll visit my food van,we do crazy burgers on the weekend,” he said.
McKenna is determined to bring that buzz back. His cafe and food van both won awards at the region’s business awards last week. Now they’re badly damaged. He doesn’t know how much it will cost him to rebuild his cafe,which only opened three months ago,because he is insured for everything except floods.
But he plans to get the food truck at the heart of town up and running by next week,and will do a day of free coffees for everyone. “And that’s going to help the community,that’s going to lift[them up]. We’re going to build and build and build,one step at a time,” he said.
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“I know everybody in this town. The feeling in this community is extreme. When you hit little country towns like this,it’s emotional how spirited people are. We’re all different people,and we don’t always get along,but when things like this happen - people who haven’t spoken for years I’ve seen giving hugs,” he said.
“Yes,this will slow things down a little bit,but it ain’t going to stop us. When it does rain,people are going to be nervous for sure,that’s only natural. But you move on and you look towards the future. I know it’s hard to say that now - it looks like a tornado or hurricane has just come through your town - but you will.
“This has always been a resilient community,through the bushfires and other floods. They’ve always banded together and helped each other out in this town,generation after generation,and it’s moments like this that you realise we’re all in this together. It’s a community thing.”
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