Downstream from the North Richmond and WIndsor Bridges, Hawkesbury residents in other river-hugging towns are witnessing the quiet seep and hoping for the best.
After all, it's not just North Richmond and Windsor that are affected by the Hawkesbury floods: the historic towns of Wisemans Ferry and St Albans have been bracing for river rises, too.
According to the Bureau of Meteorology's Flood Warning Number: 17, the Hawkesbury River at Wisemans Ferry may reach the moderate flood level (3.50 metres) during Friday. River levels may remain near the moderate flood level during Friday with forecast rainfall, BOM said.
Wisemans Ferry Inn Hotel licensee Gary Flynn said the atmosphere was "very quiet" down at the pub, with most locals off looking out for their properties.
"The ferry's are off, at least for a few days," Mr Flynn said.
"The SES were in to see me this morning, and they reckon it will be a bit higher than last year, so they're moving their operation a bit higher up the hill.
"We had a power outage from 3pm until 10pm last night, and it was back on when I came in this morning. It rained heavy this morning, and stopped about an hour ago, but they're predicting another rain bomb to hit us."
Mr Flynn lives in Sydney and travels to his work at the inn, but said he might have to kip at the hotel tonight, depending on the rainfall.
He said the pub was "high and dry" - a good 10 metres above the height of last year's flood - and was still open.
"There's very restricted staff that are here, and we're not doing much, it's a limited menu at the moment," he said.
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In St Albans, Steve Kavanagh, owner of the St Joseph's Guesthouse, was having trouble accessing mobile reception to chat with the Gazette.
He wrote via text message that the flood was "going slowly at the moment".
"Hopefully we won't get too much more water in our catchment and Warragamba Dam doesn't fill up the Hawkesbury too much," he wrote.
A flood watch is current for the Macdonald River - which runs through St Albans - and the Upper Coxs River nearby.
But Mr Kavanagh said his "biggest drama" was the phone reception.
"We cannot make any calls, not even from the phone box," he wrote.
Sarah Falson
Daily Liberal journalist. I love telling people's stories. Get in touch at sarah.falson@austcommunitymedia.com.au
Daily Liberal journalist. I love telling people's stories. Get in touch at sarah.falson@austcommunitymedia.com.au
