NSW flood victims tell of damage, trauma

Days after being forced from her flooding Lismore home, a traumatised Christine Devine ended up in hospital after collapsing on her friend’s floor.

“I just couldn’t move and I was shaking,” Ms Devine told AAP after returning to her house to assess the damage.

“It (her emotions) just exploded like a volcano.”

The SES gave Lismore residents the all-clear to return to homes and businesses in the town’s CBD, north and south on Sunday afternoon.

Mayor Isaac Smith described the town as akin to a war zone and the Rural Fire Service has set up a base camp for hundreds of workers to help with the clean up nearby.

Water came close to entering the second storey of Ms Devine’s home after ex-cyclone Debbie soaked northern NSW.

Furniture is upturned and gardens are in complete disarray at the house, which Ms Devine had been turning into a massage, healing and wellness “sanctuary”.

The road to Murwillumbah in the north is littered with washed away cars and debris from landslides.

Towers of rubbish line Murwillumbah’s streets.

Source: NSW flood victims tell of damage, trauma | Perth Now