NSW Floods: Retired couple watch as river overflows across from heritage home in McGraths Hill

Susan and Joo Byun sat on their front porch on Tuesday morning, watching helplessly as a bevy of swans swam through the enormous lake across the road from their heritage listed house.

The retired couple, who originally hail from South Korea but live in Canberra, were anxiously monitoring the rising floodwaters surrounding their holiday home in McGraths Hill, in Sydney’s west.

They sipped their tea and took photos on their iPhones to show their friends and family.

‘We don’t normally have water views,’ Susan explained. ‘There are usually two tiny lakes across the road, and then lots of grass for the horses next door.’

But the horses are gone, as are their neighbours, because the green grass has been replaced by floodwaters which are slowly encroaching on their 1830’s home.

The heritage home has stood untouched for 191 years. 

They aren’t allowed to make any changes to its structure. Not the handcrafted glass windows or the wooden panels that hold the tin roof in place.

Susan and Joo can’t rip up the front porch, which is slowly falling to pieces as rain soaks into the convict-laid concrete. 

Normally they don’t mind. They accepted the property as is when they purchased it in 2017 to use as a Sydney base when they wanted to get away from Canberra.

But now they’re worried about what they do if the floodwaters continue to rise and if the grimy brown water soaks into their beloved little home. 

‘We don’t have anything we love inside the house, but we won’t be able to fix the house itself if it floods,’ Susan explained.

She doesn’t think the home is insured for floods, but she said she ‘didn’t mind’ when she bought the place because they were assured it would be safe.

‘We were told ”there have only been floods once here in the last 100 years”,’ Susan laughed as she pointed out to the rising waters beneath her.

‘It looks like this is the next one.’

The couple said they have been praying the floodwaters start to lower. They pointed to faraway areas now covered in water and explained how quickly it has risen.

‘On Sunday we stood by a tree down in that corner. All of us neighbours. Now its gone. And cars could drive halfway down the road until Sunday afternoon.’ 

Now the road is blocked at the top of the hill and all of Susan and Joo’s neighbours have left, seeking higher ground.

Because the couple don’t permanently reside in McGrath’s Hill, they haven’t been getting the emergency evacuation texts from emergency services like others have.

They fled last night to ensure their car was safe, but walked back down to assess the damage and make their next decision.

The home is entirely surrounded by water. Behind them, roads have turned to swamps. Beside them the house next door, which is also heritage listed and even older than Susan and Joo’s, is moments away from going under as water laps at its front door. 

The owners reportedly got away early as they had to move all of their horses and animals up to higher, safer grounds.