Julie Botfield called the SES first. Then she called triple-zero. The water was rising under her house — not seeping, but rising with force and momentum, the way floodwater does when there is nowhere left for it to go. The calls went through, the emergency was logged and help was dispatched. It just was not coming fast enough.
Botfield later told the ABC what those hours felt like. Her experience became one of many stories that circulated during and after the NSW Mid North Coast floods of May 2025, one of the most devastating natural disasters the state had faced in decades. By the time the rain eased, more than 50,000 people had been cut off by floodwaters, five people had died and emergency services were still trying to clear a growing backlog of calls.
The State Emergency Service (SES) operates largely through volunteers. In ordinary times this is seen as a point of pride for communities across New South Wales. The men and women who respond to storms and floods give their time and risk their safety to help others. The system depends heavily on their willingness to step forward whenever disaster strikes.
During the May 2025 floods, around 2,500 emergency personnel were deployed across the affected regions. In the first 24 hours alone, SES crews carried out 535 flood rescues and helped save more than 300 people. Despite these efforts, the sheer scale of the event quickly pushed the system to its limits.
More than 153 flood warnings were active across the state at the same time. The Manning, Gloucester, Hastings and Macleay rivers were all at major flood levels simultaneously. With the weather system sitting over the region and more rain continuing to fall, emergency calls were coming in faster than crews could physically reach them.
In at least two of the five confirmed fatalities, victims had contacted emergency services before they died but could not be reached in time. Each case had different circumstances, but the underlying pattern was similar: the floodwaters moved faster than the response.
The town of Taree was at the centre of the disaster. In just one 24-hour period, SES crews responded to 892 incidents there, including 130 flood rescues. The Manning River gauge at Martin Bridge peaked at 6.44 metres, surpassing the previous record set in 1929 by more than half a metre. Hydrologists later described the event as a flood with a statistical rarity of greater than once in 500 years. While the town had prepared for flooding, few expected a disaster of that magnitude.
Further north in Kempsey, the Macleay River overtopped the town’s CBD levee. The levee system had long been considered Kempsey’s main protection against flooding, but water levels rose beyond the structure’s design limits. Residents in low-lying areas who had relied on the levee for protection suddenly found themselves exposed.
Floodwaters also forced the closure of sections of the Pacific Highway, the main transport route along the NSW coast. The highway was shut between Purfleet and Coopernook and several other sections were cut off as well. These closures isolated communities already dealing with rising water and made it harder for emergency crews, supply trucks and evacuees to move through the region.
The flooding triggered widespread disruption to daily life. More than 5,000 homes and businesses from Woolgoolga to Forster lost power, while over 100 schools were forced to close. Supermarkets in places like Kempsey and Wingham were unable to restock for days after the flood peak. Even after water levels began falling, about 12,000 residents remained isolated because roads were still underwater.
The National Emergency Management Agency worked to restore food supplies, power and telecommunications, but the task was enormous. Four days after the river peaked, around 50,000 people were still cut off and about 10,000 properties required damage assessments.
The disaster triggered familiar debates about preparedness and resources. The Australian Defence Force was deployed, volunteers worked beyond their normal limits and the state government declared a natural disaster. Calls quickly followed for better infrastructure, improved warning systems and increased funding for emergency services.
Research conducted by Risk Frontiers after the event highlighted problems residents experienced during the crisis. Surveys across communities including Taree, Wingham, Glenthorne and Croki found many people felt official warnings were delayed or unclear. In some cases evacuation notices arrived only after roads had already become impassable.
As a result, many residents relied more heavily on social media groups, local Facebook pages and phone calls from neighbours rather than official alerts from authorities or the Bureau of Meteorology.
The flooding also caused widespread property damage across the region. The Taree Aquatic Club, which had previously prepared for floods after lessons from the 2021 disaster, was overwhelmed when water rose more than a metre inside the building’s first floor. The estimated losses were around $1.5 million.
Taree University Campus also suffered major damage, with floodwaters reaching 1.2 metres on the first floor and filling basements and the underground car park. Pulteney Arcade in the Taree CBD was flooded to 2.2 metres, and only one of the nine businesses operating there was able to reopen quickly.
Insurance presented another challenge. Premiums across the Mid North Coast had risen dramatically in recent years due to repeated disasters. In areas such as Glenthorne, some residents reported insurance quotes as high as $60,000 a year. Many households simply could not afford coverage, leaving them without financial protection when the floods hit.
For those families, recovery relied largely on community support. Neighbours, volunteers and charities stepped in where insurance could not.
One of the organisations assisting with recovery was Samaritan’s Purse, which sent volunteer teams to Taree, Wingham and nearby towns in May and June. Their work focused on helping families clean flood-damaged homes, remove mould, clear debris and begin rebuilding. For many residents, it was the first meaningful step toward returning to normal life after weeks of living in damaged houses.
The overall picture that emerged from the May 2025 floods was of a region struck by a disaster larger than its infrastructure could manage. Emergency services responded with dedication and courage, but the event exposed the limits of systems that rely heavily on volunteers and limited resources.
Julie Botfield eventually received the help she needed. She was safe, though her home required extensive repairs. Reflecting on the experience, she spoke candidly about both the fear she felt and the gratitude she had for the volunteers who came to help.
“They worked so hard,” she said. “I just wish there were more of them.”
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