A number of residents in the northern part of the town were allowed back to their homes after 2pm on Saturday, but work to make them liveable was another story.

SES volunteers and council workers were yesterday assigned the task of helping residents rip up carpet and pull out soggy furniture.

SES media officer Sam Colwell said yesterday residents and business in the areas bounded by Albert and Boundary streets, Frome St and the Gwydir Highway had been allowed to return home.

“How many of those residents will not be able to live in their homes upon their return and following the clean-up is not known at this stage,” she said.

“Council is conducting a number of safety checks before residents go home and that process is expected to continue until at least (this) afternoon.”

The condition of a number of local roads meant some residents were forced to stay longer in evacuation centres.

“We want to ensure, when we do allow people to return to their homes, they have water, power and other facilities available to them, but we also want to make sure they can get there safely; as part of that process, a number of roads are in the process of being fixed so more residents can return home,” she said.

Moree Plains Shire Council mayor Katrina Humphries told The Leader that while residents knew there was a big task ahead when it came to cleaning up and the smell of the floods continued to linger, residents were in phenomenal spirits.

“A number of Rural Fire Service n from page 1

trucks have been brought in to help resident hose out,” Cr Humphries said. “They’re also helping put furniture down.”

While the exact number of inundated homes is still being counted, Cr Humphries estimated at least 200 homes had been waterlogged.

“One lady in her 70s that I visited had mud in her wine glasses,” she said. “The enormity of this flood – emotionally, physically from the clean-up and financially – is something we can’t even begin to estimate, but everyone here has chipped in and is helping and you rarely hear a complaint.”