Barrier Daily Truth

Have river, will flood

Saturday, 18th February, 2012

GOING UNDER: Doug Spencer on his property which has been filling up with water for the past fortnight. The tree on the left of the picture is normally “28 steps” from the river, he says.

By Emily Roberts

It will be another three or four weeks before more floodwaters come down to Menindee but some townsfolk are already moving out.

Broken Hill locals, Doug and Chicky Spencer, have a Menindee home right beside the Darling River. Yesterday they moved the last of their belongings to higher ground as the last part of their block filled with water.

Mr Spencer said it had been “creeping in for a fortnight” and was about 35 centimetres deep.

The couple will go to Sunset Strip for the weekend before coming back to the Broken Hill to sit it out.

“We’ve been here on and off for the past couple of weeks, taking the last of our stuff out,” Mr Spencer said.

Mrs Spencer said this was the eighth move they had done in 30 years of owning the property.

“We have gone fully under, in the 1976 flood,” she said. “Everything is on bricks. We had to buy more bricks as we ran out.

“It’s just part of living on the river.” 

The Spencers have packed all their belongings in a van which is held off the ground by bricks and taken the door off the bathroom.

“(The water) will come right through the bathroom,” Mrs Spencer explained.

Tony and June Board also live on the river, but they haven’t had any trouble so far and will move into caravans when the flows come down.

“We have been sandbagging but it is too late to try and stop it,” Mr Board said.

“If the water is like the 1976 flood, we will go under.

“What we can get out we will lift up. But we will still stay on the river.”

Mrs Board said she enjoyed the peace and quiet of living in Menindee.

“We have no complaints. When you live on the river you put up with what you get,” Mr Board said.

“You can’t stop the river,” said Mrs Board.