He and his neighbours in Lachlan Street are no strangers to mass clean-ups – they’re still reeling from the devastating August 1998 water explosion that trashed their homes and gardens.

But what has gutted them this time is the ‘‘lack of support’’ from Wollongong City Council, which has refused to clear away the tonnes  of mud the residents are shovelling out of their homes.

‘‘You have no concept of what this is like until you’ve been through it,’’ Mr O’Brien said on Thursday.

‘‘In five minutes the water washes up and down the street, you hold your breath, then it’s gone and you’re left with the damage,’’ he said.

‘‘We are not asking them to clean up our homes, but we are asking for their support. The problems with the creek are problems that should have been fixed.’’

Mr O’Brien owned his home in 1998 but now has a mortgage, thanks to insurance company CGU’s decision not to pay his claim.

‘‘I’m 57 now and I’ll be 67 by the time I own it again,’’ he said.

The historic house sustained tens of thousands of dollars damage after a flood in 1998.

Mr O’Brien believes the council’s work around the city on mitigation and cleaning out creeks to prevent blockages has not been matched in the northern suburbs, and this week’s devastation was further proof of that.

‘‘It’s been referred to as a one in 300-year event but this is the fourth time this has happened,’’ he said.

As residents cleared away the mud and made piles out in the street, the sight of a council truck and crew on Thursday morning was a welcome relief.

‘‘They’ve been a big help in the past, that’s what’s always happened, they come and take it away for us. But they told us they’d been given a directive not to do it any more and, after today, it’s our problem,’’ Mr O’Brien said.

‘‘How is it our problem, we pay high rates out here in the north and what are we supposed to do? We have tonnes of mud still to get rid of. You can’t get a skip and fill it with mud.’’

A Wollongong City Council spokesman said the event was ‘‘localised flooding’’ and had not bee declared a ‘‘local disaster’’.

‘‘Therefore there is no additional funding for council to assist residents to clean up their properties for this event,’’  he said.

‘‘All city residents can use their green waste bins and the on-call council clean-up to leave out debris or household items that may have been affected by the recent rain.

‘‘This does not include silt or mud but can include water-damaged carpets and furniture.’’

The council is spending $180,000 to review its policy on calculating blockage of culverts and drains during floods, which has been criticised for overstating the flood risk  in some areas.

Residents have also complained the council has not done enough to clean out creeks to reduce the risk of them blocking.

Council has refused to clear out creeks when they are classed as private property.

Horticulturalist Jannine Vincent believes lives will remain at risk unless repair work is carried out on the notorious Hewitts Creek running through her backyard.

But the council is washing its hands of the matter, saying the creek is not its problem.

‘‘There were massive boulders, branches, garden furniture flying past me in waist-deep water,’’ Ms Vincent said after Monday night’s downpour.

‘‘My neighbour lost her car and I only got mine out seconds before the water came down my driveway.

‘‘That was a very short amount of rain and I was waist-deep in water. If it had continued a couple of hours longer I don’t know what would have happened. Someone could have died,’’ she said.

In that frightening 60 minutes of flooding in Lachlan Street, Ms Vincent’s shed was washed three metres down her driveway and her tropical garden was destroyed.

‘‘It’s ruined, years and years of work and love and care, it was my tropical oasis garden with outdoor furniture, statues, it’s really upsetting,’’ Ms Vincent said.

‘‘I’m lucky we have insurance that will pay for the damage but the amount of physical labour myself, my mum and my friends have all put in, it’s heartbreaking.

‘‘My mum is 75 and she has spent the whole week shovelling mud, she shouldn’t have to do that.’’

Ms Vincent said at least five homes around her were affected and ‘‘some of these people have paid hundreds of thousands of dollars on repairs because of the creek over the years’’.

She believes Wollongong City Council has a responsibility to ‘‘keep us safe’’.

‘‘We sit on the lowest part in the creek and nothing has been done to fix the creek since the 1998 floods,’’ Ms Vincent said.

‘‘They need to put up a big strong wall, they need to do something. I don’t care what they do but they need to fix it.’’

A Wollongong City Council spokesman said creeks that ran through private properties were the responsibility of the property owner.

‘‘Council does not undertake any work on private properties,’’ the spokesman said.

Another resident Phil Devlin said he found the council’s response hard to fathom.

‘‘The creek may be running through private property but essentially it’s their water,’’ Mr Devlin said.

‘‘As I understand it, they channel stormwater off the guttering and kerb into it. They charge us a stormwater management fee in their rates so they need to manage the stormwater.’’