Willanthery farm turned into 'marina' as Lachlan river swelled during 2022 floods

Julie Storrier and her husband, David, have lived for many years on their property 'Mountain Creek' at Wallanthery, halfway between Hillston and Lake Cargelligo.

The couple and their extended family run a 35,000-acre mixed farming operation on the banks of the Lachlan River.

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When the floods arrived, Mrs Storrier said so many people became stranded that they would travel by boat to the farm before making it by car to Hillston.

"At Mountain Creek, we had up to eight boats per day tied up at our fence," Mrs Storrier said.

"It was like a marina."

Ms Storrier said children would commute daily via the river to their farm to get to school.

"We had two young families that came every morning with their school children," she said.

"They would then hop off their boats and drive another 10 kilometres to [catch] the bus. They did that twice a day for months."

Ms Storrier and her husband live in a house that sits below the river level and as a result they were forced to put up a levee bank to save it.

Despite the protection, they had to use pumps to remove water that began seeping in through the levee.

The family lives near Lake Brewster, which is known to be a habitat for many pelicans. However, this proved to be an unexpected nuisance.

With the lake flooding, the pelicans kept damaging the power lines over the water, forcing the family to call in assistance as their power went out.

While her house itself didn't flood, Mrs Storrier packed up all possessions bar some plastic chairs and a small TV and moved them to higher ground because they have no flood insurance.

The floodwaters finally began to recede in December, with things slowly returning to normal and roads reopening.

During this period, she praised her family, neighbours and people from town for the way they all pitched in to help one another.

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