Some of the jetties have been obscured by the still-high waterline. Others are gone – snapped off overnight as a king tide and and east coast low combined to engorge and infuriate the lake.

“The water came up that fast – it was unbelievable,” said Chris Bowers, a village resident. “It was coming from the lake, the creek, the marina. It was going all night it was just getting worse. We’ve been here 20 years and we’ve never seen it as bad.”

Mr Bowers and his wife Elizabeth Hamilton-Bowers were evacuated about 11pm Sunday when water spilled inside their annex and rose about 30cms up the wall. 

In darkness, with the water now “roaring” beneath their home, the couple climbed into an SES inflatable raft and were evacuated. 

Mrs Bowers found the little boat had taken on some water and was crowded with her neighbours, including a cat and a Labrador. 

“When I stepped into it, it was just like getting into a cold bath with your clothes on,” she said. 

“Our [neighbours] have gone to live in a cabin. It’s the first year they’ve been here they were very scared, especially when they heard the water roaring under the house.”

After two days of solid rain, parts of the Illawarra were in clean-up mode throughout Monday. 

Roads remained closed at Wollongong, Coniston, Woonona, Warrawong, Otford, West Dapto, Kembla Heights, Wombarra, Kiama and Kembla Heights, where trees came down in two places, taking power lines down and cutting off a section of the village. 

Water remained pooled on Boundary Road at Windang, lapping at the driveways of houses at the western end. 

Resident Ken Malby was asleep when the water came inside his home. 

The water came inside and rose about 20cms up the wall, moving over the tiled floor and into the kitchen. 

Mr Malby believes the risk of flooding is heightened by two blocked drains in the area.  

“It’s really frustrating because I’ve got a file that thick of correspondence and I must have made 20 phone calls to Wollongong council,” he said.  

“People keep emailing, giving me undertakings ... but at the end of the day nothing happens.” 

At Jettys by the Lake, two electricians are working to restore the power supplies to flood-affected cabins.

Village manager John Hutcheson saw some older residents panic late Sunday, as the water rose. But by morning there was calm –even pride.

“They say, ‘I didn’t leave, I stayed with the ship’,” he said. “It could have been worse.”

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