CAMPBELL'S of Oura owner Leigh Campbell says he can't put a price on the amount of stock he lost or the damage caused to his property after floodwaters tore through the tiny town last week.
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But what is even more devastating for Mr Campbell is knowing had the authorities told him how quickly the river was rising, he could have saved much of his property.
Mr Campbell said he spent close to three hours calling the State Emergency Service (SES) and other bodies for information as the floodwaters slowly rose around Oura.
When he finally got through to the SES's information line, Mr Campbell said he was disheartened when "after about 20 questions, she asked 'where in NSW is that (Oura)?'."
Mr Campbell travelled to Eurongilly to assess the situation where he was told upstream the river had risen close to 45 centimetres in three hours.
With alarm bells ringing, Mr Campbell realised the "stagnant water" was not going to lie low for long.
Wrapping his house in plastic and moving what furniture he could, Mr Campbell watched on as a metre of water inundated his home and business.
SES spokeswoman Becky Gollings said SES volunteers had door-knocked homes in Oura 24 hours before the floods hit.
"Oura as well as several other communities have been a priority for the NSW State Emergency Service during this flood event," she said.
"As with any flood operation across the state, the NSW SES will go over its actions to see what, if any, changes are needed to its flood response procedures."
