Water had inundated the yard of their home at the corner of Swan and Evans streets – one of the areas worst affected by the weekend storms.

A few centimetres of their white picket fence were visible above the floodwaters, which covered the street outside and adjoining intersection.

When the Mercury arrived around 10am, the waters had receded a little although they were still knee-deep in Mr Craig’s front yard – with forecasts of more wet weather to come.

Mr Craig had his kayak out surveying the damage around the property and surrounding streets, and organising a plan of action for his family.

‘’We got a knock on the door around 6.30am and when we opened the door our neighbour was standing there with water up to his thighs,’’ Mr Craig said.

‘’He told us the water looked like it was going to come into our house and that we needed to work out what we were going to do.

‘’The water was at our top step, so we started piling our furniture and belongings up high just in case.’’

Fortunately the couple’s three kids had stayed at their grandparent’s on Saturday night, and the couple was planning to join them.

‘’We can’t use the toilet, there’s water up to the rim,’’ Mrs Craig said. ''If we stay here, we're stuck in the house with no facilities.''

The couple has rented the house for two years, and the owner of the property had paid them a visit on Saturday morning.

‘’He told us that while the house had never flooded, it had come close,’’ Mrs Craig said.

Mr Craig added: ‘’Neighbours who’ve lived here for years have told us that the area has drainage problems. The buck gets passed from council to the water board to landowners – but nothing gets done.’’

Across the road, pensioner Wilma Stagni spent a sleepless night as rain pelted down outside.

‘’When I came to Australia from Italy 40 years ago I came to this house and have lived here for over 40 years,’’ she said.

‘’The waters were high in 1998 when there were floods and at other times, but this is the highest they’ve been.

‘’I live on my own and it was very scary this morning to look out the window – it was like my house was on the sea, all I could see was water.’’

In his home further up on Evans Street, Arthur Tzortzis, was getting ready to evacuate – again.

‘’I’ve been this a few times now – ‘98, 2008 and 2012 – we’ve had damage to our property before and our insurance rates have gone through the roof,’’ he said.

‘’This area always gets hit and the council hasn’t done anything to alleviate it – something needs to be done to get the flow of water right.

‘’My wife and two kids were all in a panic this morning with the waters rising, and while they’ve subsided for now, we don’t know how much more is yet to come.’’

A few streets down in Beach Street, the story was similar. Resident Charly Lindsay was worried about the rising water in the backyard, which was threatening to seep in through the back door.

‘’I did my shopping on Saturday morning when I heard the weather forecast,’’ she said. ‘’I’m glad I did now as I’m pretty much stuck at home.

‘’It’s a bit of a watch and wait situation at the moment – I might still need to call the SES and get sandbags.’’

Wollongong Lord Mayor Gordon Bradbery said the streets in that area were particularly vulnerable.

‘’That’s the lowest point in the city – it’s only just over one metre above sea level – and that’s where all the water flows from Coniston, Mangerton and North Wollongong,’’ he said. ‘’It’s the natural drainage pattern of the area.’’

He said while council had done work on the culvert at Swan Street, and maintained as much vegetation as they could in the area, extreme weather events remained a challenge.

‘’I share the residents’ concerns; unfortunately the reality is that these weather events are happening more often and at a greater intensity,’’ Councillor Bradbery said.

‘’The downpours are very localised and very intense so they drop a large amount of water in a small time and it can’t get away quickly.

‘’Combine that with two days of high tides like we’ve had and very large seas which are pushing back against any run-off from the land.’’

Cr Bradbery said the weekend downpour – which has also badly affected suburbs north and south – showed how exposed the region was.

‘’Wedged as we are between the mountains and the sea, rain events like these are very concentrated on a small area of land, which makes us very vulnerable to these weather patterns.’’