House Swept Down NSW River in Australia

House Swept Down NSW River in Australia
A screenshot of a supplied video shows a house floating down the Manning River in Taree, NSW, Saturday, March 20, 2021. (AAP Image/Supplied by Ciara Knox)
AAP
By AAP
3/20/2021
Updated:
3/20/2021

A couple who should have been getting married have been left homeless after their Taree cottage was swept down the Manning River on the New South Wales (NSW) mid-north coast where flood waters are expected to rival a record set before World War II.

The cottage used to stand at Mondrook, opposite Taree, on the Manning River.

Surging flood waters lifted the house from its foundations on Saturday and it’s been filmed moving at speed down the river, which is expected to peak at 5.8 metres later in the day.

That’s higher than Taree’s 1978 and 2011 floods and close to the record flood level of six metres recorded in 1929, a decade before World War II broke out.

Lyle Edge says his brother lived in the house with his partner. They should have been getting married on Saturday. Instead, they’ve been left homeless and their pets are dead.

“Our brother Joshua and his fiancée Sarah lost their entire home and belongings to the flood waters in Mondrook on the mid north coast,” Edge has written in launching a GoFundMe campaign to help the couple.

“What was supposed to be their wedding day ended up with their house floating down river and them losing everything they have worked hard for and sadly losing their pets as well.”

In just three hours, the campaign had raised almost $8000.

By Tracey Ferrier