Just hours after being rescued by helicopter from the roof of their flood-stricken home, Seeanna Briscoe was already preparing to begin another double shift at Taree Hospital.
“What else am I going to do?” she said, acknowledging the dire circumstances yet continuing her duties as a healthcare worker.
Ms Briscoe, her husband Troy, their sons Jax and Cruz, her father Lawrence, their two dogs, and three baby chickens were airlifted to safety after floodwaters engulfed their newly rented home in Glenthorne on Wednesday morning. Despite losing nearly everything, she returned to work to support her community, many of whom were also impacted by the floods.
On Tuesday morning, Ms Briscoe had headed to work, initially dismissing the rain as less severe than the 2021 floods. By midday, roads into Taree were impassable, leaving her stranded at the hospital and her family trapped at home.
As water rose through their three-storey house, the family moved higher floor by floor. By 8 p.m., floodwaters began breaching the second level. Troy swam through the garage to retrieve life vests for the boys and instructed them to prepare emergency bags.
In the early hours of Wednesday morning, emergency services instructed Troy to break through the ceiling and move the family onto the roof. As they waited for rescue, with floodwaters nearly reaching them, Troy feared the worst.
“[Troy] said, ‘I don’t think anyone is coming, I think we’re gonna die,’” Ms Briscoe recalled. “I didn’t know if my family would survive. I just kept telling him it would be daylight soon.”
From the helicopter, her family witnessed the heartbreaking sight of their belongings washing away in the flood. Footage captured the moment the water engulfed their home, while other clips showed them waving desperately from the rooftop.
PolAir evacuated the boys first, transporting them to safety in Tuncurry. Troy and Lawrence were dropped at a nearby property. The family had moved into the Glenthorne home only five months prior. None of their possessions were insured.
Now homeless, Ms Briscoe continues working at the hospital, sleeping in a temporary wing while her family finds shelter with relatives across the Mid North Coast. “Taree is an island now,” she said. “We lost everything — the cars, everything.”
The flood claimed irreplaceable items: family photos, keepsakes, electronics, clothing, furniture, and Troy’s Harley Davidson motorcycle. “The kids’ stuff is just stuff, at least they’re alive,” Ms Briscoe said.
Their story is just one among more than 300 flood rescues that day. Despite the trauma, Ms Briscoe pushes on, drawing strength from friends, family, and a crowdfunding effort that’s helping them begin to rebuild their lives.
