For the second time in four months some people in the Megalong Valley have been cut off from civilisation due to heavy rains and flooding.
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On Monday July 4, led by Police Rescue, Megalong Valley Rural Fire Brigade set up a 50 metre zipline, rigged between two Rural Fire Service trucks, to get emergency rations across Megalong Road at the Old Ford Reserve.
Thirty people - residents, their guests and stranded campers - were cut off in the flooding for up to four days. Many were running low on food. The ration packs had "the sort of things you give to people in trouble ... super foods, sugary things and protein," Megalong Valley brigade member, Malcolm Scott, said.
Mr Scott, 72, manned the isolated side of the emergency zipline. He was assisted by three stranded campers that he took in for two nights.
"We took three loads of emergency ration packs across [in two hours]. It was very heavy, we had to keep the zipline very tight so it didn't fall into the water.
"To start with they threw a light rope with a weight attached across, to which they attached a heavier rope, which we then attached to either end of the vehicles. The first throw attempt became stuck in a tree.
"In the middle of the floods [on Tuesday] we had a blackout as well," he said. "This last week .. it's all a bit of a blur."
Police confirmed on July 4 they set up a roping system, similar to a flying fox, to get supplies to stranded campers - providing enough food for two days. A helicopter rescue was ruled out due to weather issues. Police Rescue drove 11 people out on July 6.
A former Qantas engineer, Mr Scott, has been living in the Megalong for 25 years and said they had been struggling with disasters since the fires of 2019.
"Things are definitely getting worse [in terms of disasters]," he said.
In March, 20 people were cut off for a week due to flooding and landslides, leaving them reliant on the generosity of neighbours for groceries. Council also temporarily abandoned garage pick-ups because of the poor condition of the roads.
"In our minds it started with the 2019 bushfires, but after that we had massive floods that ravaged the daylights of the countryside where everything was burnt out, then we had COVID, and now two more floods."
Paul Coull from Heathcote, "waded" out of parts of the Six Foot Track with a companion and the manager of the track's eco lodge on July 3. They were taken in by good samaritan Mr Scott.
"I know rain was forecast, but I don't think anyone expected the volume we got," he said.
"The Cox's River was lapping at the base of the eco lodge [when we woke up on Sunday]. We hiked out through raging torrents of water. I was wading waist deep to get across the water."
Mr Coull, 65, has run the Six Foot Track marathon 18 times and has been hiking in the Mountains for 50 years. He said he was deeply grateful for the generosity of numerous Megalong Valley residents.
In a mayoral minute at the May council meeting, Mayor Mark Greenhill drew particular attention to the roads affected by flooding in the Megalong, and told staff if more money was needed, council would go into debt to make it happen.
