Mount Keira residents who back onto Byarong Creek had their nightmares realised early on Saturday, as a huge torrent broke the banks and lifted a backyard cabin hosting two Airbnb guests into the water.
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In echoes of the devastating 1998 floods, the creek which runs through Mount Keira and into Figtree became blocked from debris rushing down the waterway as 100mm of rain fell in less than an hour.
Koloona Avenue resident Paul Harrison - who spent Saturday cleaning up his own home where the fence had been ripped down and his cars had been inundated - described the 'horrendous' roar of the water as it lifted the cabin up in his neighbour's yard and pulled it into the creek.
"After the torrential rain from four o'clock onwards, about six o'clock the bridge blocked with all of the debris that you see with the tree trunks, branches as it does tend to do quite often," he said.
"Once that blocks, it backs up, the water rises and it goes through the least resistant area, which is overland not following the creek - because it's full already."
He said his CCTV cameras captured the water rising up to a metre over properties along the creek within a matter of minutes.
"It lifted the cabin off its foundations, then swept it through [the backyards]. It was then careened down to the bridge at horrendous speed, and it slammed into the bridge and broke apart," Mr Harrison said.
"Two people who were in the cabin, I don't think they were sleeping because the noise of everything was so loud, were still inside when it slammed into the bridge.
The '98 flood was exactly the same. But the major difference today is we almost had two fatalities when the cabin crashed into the bridge.
- Paul Harrison, resident
"My neighbours across the road, saw it and were able to get over there, and help them get out of it."
NSW Ambulance was called and the pair was taken to hospital, but neighbours reported that they had escaped with minor injuries.
Mr Harrison, whose house was flooded during the 1998 floods, said the creek was regularly backed up in massive downpours.
"This is a common occurrence when we get rain like this, the bridge is a wrong design for this area," he said.
"The culverts are at an angle to the actual creek, so it traps any sort of debris that may come through... and it causes a dam.
"The '98 flood was exactly the same. But the major difference today is we almost had two fatalities when the cabin crashed into the bridge.
"Imagine their thoughts as they got pulled down the creek. You would not have understood what happened."
As the sky cleared on Saturday, neighbours from around the creek brought their gumboots and a helping hand, dragging the debris from affected people's backyards into the street next to the cabin.
The structure remained there, broken apart but mostly intact, perched on a pile of trees and branches on the side of the bridge.
Wollongong City Council crews were also on hand, with the road closed to allow the mud and debris to be cleared.
Kate McIlwain
For more than a decade, I've helped the Illawarra Mercury set the news agenda across the region. Currently I'm the paper's health reporter - covering the stories of Illawarra workers and residents in the wake of a global pandemic and at a time where our health systems are stretched to the limit.
For more than a decade, I've helped the Illawarra Mercury set the news agenda across the region. Currently I'm the paper's health reporter - covering the stories of Illawarra workers and residents in the wake of a global pandemic and at a time where our health systems are stretched to the limit.
