Speaking to The Daily Advertiser last year – only hours after the State Emergency Service (SES) lifted the total evacuation order for North Wagga – Ms Crocker described the suburb as something of a “war zone” with its police checkpoints and streets filled with Army, State Emergency Service and Rural Fire Service personnel. 

Reflecting on the past year Ms Crocker said while there were plenty of challenges in the aftermath, she still felt lucky to be back in her home and moving forward with repairs. 

“Nearly one third of this street still isn’t back in their homes, which isn’t out of the ordinary for North Wagga,” Ms Crocker said. 

“You hear horror stories about tradesmen and the problems people have had with insurance companies, which just ends-up adding more time to people getting back into their homes, which is sad for residents.”

Ms Crocker, who moved back into her house as soon as the evacuation order was lifted, said she had faced ongoing repair issues and problems within the community. 

“I’ve needed to install a new kitchen because my old one was completely destroyed. I also needed to clean the floor about 10 times because mud kept coming up through the floorboards,” she said. 

“I’ve also had to contend with lots of noise because the entire suburb has become a construction site.”

Ms Crocker said the most unnerving concern was the number of break-and-enters and incidents of vandalism that had been occurring throughout the suburb.

North Wagga businesses have also faced problems with continued patronage as a result of only about half the residents having moved back into their homes.

Palm and Pawn venue manager Will Doggett said the pub was looking forward to more residents moving back into their homes. 

“We’ve had plenty of support but we’re looking forward to getting our locals back,” Mr Doggett said. 

The pub closed for nearly five weeks directly after the flood event due to repair work but has since acted as a community meeting place for residents. 

North Wagga Residents Association president Laurie Blowes said while there is still plenty of work to done he believed recent milestones have re-energised the community. 

“We had our preschool re-open about three weeks ago,” Mr Blowes said. 

“And while we’ve still got a long road ahead of us we’ll just keep working together to overcome the problems we’re facing.”