That's the impression you get as those who were in Eugowra on 14 November, 2022, speak of the way the floodwaters surged around them that day.

"I still can't believe it happened," Casey Jones says almost a year on.

Casey and daughter Korrah were trapped in a friend's home as the waves of water rose that day. When the front door blew in under the force of the water they - with the others who had run to shelter there - battled through it to where they could be helped to the roof.

"As we got out of the house, there was a house floating past," Casey recalls with that same disbelief.

"The sound of (the water) was something I have never heard - I can't believe how loud water is."

The waters rose by 9.30am, the group including little Korrah and daschund Max were on that roof until 4.30 or 5pm, looking for and hearing people around them, waving at rescue helicopters, trying to reassure Korrah.

"We were watching tin floating by, hitting the powerlines and sparking on the water," Casey recalls.

The family's rental home and all that was in it was destroyed that day, and Casey spent eight months in a caravan at the showground before arrangements could be made to place one of the temporary housing pods on her dad's property.

It's comfortable and it's home for at least a year - with the option to extend for 12 months.

Despite the uncertainty beyond that, Casey knows one thing: Eugowra is home. Now more than ever.

"Why would I want to leave the people? It's where I want to bring Ko up," she says.

Voted president of Eugowra's rugby league club that very month, and with Ricky the first grade coach, Casey has fixed her focus on community.

Eugowra's Golden Eagles fielded men's and women's teams in Woodbridge Cup competition, they had new fences and goalposts installed so they could host home games on the Ian Walsh Football Field.

They tackled whole new events such as Royce's Big Walk and the club's first debutante ball, continuing their causes day, sending players to the Koori Knockout, launching social sports in the off-season.

It's all about keeping people connected.

"If I drag myself out of the house maybe I'm dragging someone else out who just needs that headspace for the moment," Casey says.

It's taken almost a year but Judy Smith's home has been completely - and beautifully - rebuilt since the chest-high floodwaters roared through it.

She's happy to be in her home, in the community she's always called home.

But she's so very mindful of the absence of her husband Ken, who passed away in June, and those friends lost in and since the flooding.

Dianne Smith and Les Vugic lost their lives that day, a number of residents including Kenny have gone in the year since.

All but five places on the Smiths' side of the creek were affected by the flood event of 14 November 2022, so in the immediate aftermath it was family and their friends from surrounding areas who arrived to remove everything from the house and finally strip it back to the framework to allow it to dry out.

They sifted through the mud and silt to save what could be saved and put it in storage until this day - when Jude's home is ready to move back into.

It's cost just about everything the couple worked so hard for all their lives.

Like so many in Eugowra, the Smiths didn't have flood insurance. Although they'd been loyal to their insurer for decades they had "opted out" of flood cover when the premiums reached about $20,000 a year.

Support has come from their community and the wider community: GIVIT and a range of organisations have provided items or vouchers to get what's needed to get home.

"I am very, very appreciative of everyone who has given us all the items to help with recovery," Judy said.

Like Casey, Judy has always been heavily involved in the Eugowra community - many will know her as the Advocate's long-time correspondent and publicity officer for many local groups - it's in community that she's already once again investing her energies.

The hospital auxiliary, Evening VIEW Club and other organisations have continued to meet - and continued their work - over the past 12 months.

Craft on the Creek rebuilt and has reopened, expanding to create the community healing hub next door where all are welcome, and the volunteers of the Eugowra Museum and Bushranger Centre continue their work towards restoration and reopening.