Sea of floodwater across Moree Plains, including homes in town

That was the laconic take on the largest flood in nine years to descend on Moree.

But this was a sneaky flood that almost took the town by surprise, but luckily they were wise and prepared for it.

It's not just the 100 homes flooded in town, but dozens and dozens of farms from Gravesend west to the north and west of Moree under water.

That includes the Estens' family's huge orange orchards north of Moree, as photographed by Dick Esten's daughter Sascha, of Rabbithopfilms, in this photo she supplied to The Land:

The main street of Moree was spared the flood levels of the 2012 event, but the 2021 event has flooded many homes north and west of the Mehi in town, from the Golf Club to the racecourse.

And it doesn't look like it's going to go away any time soon.

It was a sneaky flood with two peaks and took many people by surprise on Wednesday night, when the flood level went down, only for it to rise again overnight when everyone thought it was safe to go to bed.

The SES did an amazing job to warn the town of the impending flood in the first place, issuing evacuation orders late on Monday for many low-lying areas of Moree.

Moree mayor Katrina Humphries said some senior people in Sydney didn't believe that major floods were imminent, but she praised the SES controllers in Tamworth for believing her that the town was facing something serious.

It was a quick and suprising flood. Normally the town will get at least a few days' notice as the water moves down from near Inverell, down the Gwydir and Mehi. But intense rain just east of Moree in the foothills of up to 180mm of rain run through local creeks and quickly filled the Mehi.

Although it will cause a big clean-up, some were able to enjoy the unique moment.

For some locals it provided a chance to have a seachange without moving such as the Pooles on the edge of town.

Harriet and Frances Poole were keen to sea how their cubby house had turned into a boathouse.

The view from the sky was an extensive area of flooding to the horizon and Sascha Estens supplied the following photos from a plane and using a drone of the area under flood:

Mrs Humphries said the town faced a massive clean-up. She said the water rising on Wednesday night, after falling earlier in the day, took many by surprise and caught them out. Which was a lesson learned.

She said the Army may be needed to drop fodder to stock isolated in the floods.

"It's pretty ordinary here, at least the mice are dead," she said. "I'm actually pissed off, there were plenty that didn't believe me the flood was coming but at least the SES at Tamworth did."

In the next few days the town will go into recovery mode. At least the main street was spared this time. About 1.5m of water cut the road near the Mehi bridge. Many other roads and highways are cut as well.

"It's been a local rain event flood rather than floodwaters coming from further up the river," she said. "Everything was already so wet so it just ran away." The river falling late on Wednesday gave some a false sense of security that had caught many people out.

Read also: Flooded herd found a safe haven in Walcha

The Bureau of Meteorology said: "Major flooding continues along the Mehi River at Moree. Major flooding is also occurring along the Gwydir River at Yarraman. Moderate flooding is occurring at Pallamallawa and minor flooding at Gravesend.

"The Gwydir River at Gravesend Road Bridge peaked at 15.14 metres around 05:15 am Wednesday with major flooding. The river level is currently at 6.78 metres and falling with minor flooding.

"The Gwydir River at Pallamallawa peaked at 10.48 metres around 11:00 am Wednesday with major flooding, and is currently at 9.02 metres and falling slowly with moderate flooding. The Gwydir River at Pallamallawa may fall below the moderate flood level (9.50 metres) overnight Thursday into Friday.

"The Gwydir River at Yarraman Bridge peaked at 7.35 metres around 07:45 am and is currently at 7.33 metres and falling slowly with major flooding."

Meantime, major flooding was predicted for the MacIntyre and at Goondiwindi. "Major flooding is occurring along the Macintyre River downstream of Holdfast," the BOM said.

"The Macintyre River at Boggabilla is currently at 11.32 metres and rising. The Macintyre River at Boggabilla may peak around the major flood level (12.00 m) Thursday afternoon.

"The Macintyre River at Goondiwindi is currently at 9.63 metres and rising. The Macintyre River at Goondiwindi is likely to peak near 10.20 metres Thursday afternoon."

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