Truckie wakes to find truck trapped in devastating Mid North Coast floods

When he was stopped by authorities from going any further north on the Pacific Highway late on Tuesday night, owner-driver Dave Walker, 62, thought he’d be safe parked up just off the fog line at Ghinni Ghinni while he took a seven-hour break.

Instead, he woke up at 4am the next morning to find his fully-loaded K200 B-double trapped by almost a metre of water in a “one-in-500-year event” on the NSW Mid North Coast that has left one dead and 50,000 residents isolated.

Walker shot the video clip below on his phone as he waited for the NSW SES to finally arrive to whisk him away in a boat to safety.

After spending six hours standing in the cold rain on Wednesday as he was slowly ferried to the Taree RSL evacuation centre, Walker was relieved to at least be standing on solid ground with a roof over his head late last night.

But when Big Rigs called him on Thursday morning, he was still feeling the cold after a night on the floor and facing an uncertain future.

He wasn’t sure when he’d be able to get back to the truck he was still making payments on, or what condition it would be in when he was allowed back.

“My truck will be under water and the food and trailers will be f###kd. I shot that video at low-tide. This morning at 5am there was a 1.3-metre tide so you can add another 700mm to what that video was and it’s been raining all night,” Walker said.

A frustrated Walker said his truck could have been saved if someone had woken him up during the night and told him to take refuge on the nearby Ghinni Ghinni Bridge.

“There would have been enough room for me on Ghinni Ghinni Bridge as well but no one came to tell me.

“I wasn’t intending to stop where I did, but that was where we got pulled up. The road hadn’t been closed prior to that, one lane was open.”

It’s been a rough few years for the owner-operator, and it’s now just got even tougher.

Covid, the Morrison government’s decision to suspend fuel tax credits have all conspired against him and forced him to downsize from three to just one truck, which saw him take another financial hit in the process. Tropical Cyclone Alfred also damaged the boat he lives on in the Gold Coast, leaving him with another $7000 bill.

“Last year I got diagnosed with prostate cancer, had the cancer out and drove the truck for three months after the operation with a catheter on. You’re meant to have them in for 10 days. The government don’t want to give you any help and the banks won’t help ya.

“This is where I’m at now, got nothing again.

“A cyclone, cancer and flood all in 12 months – I’m over it.”

• About 11.30pm yesterday, four truck drivers were rescued after the police helicopter landed on the bridge on the M1 at Ghinni Ghinni.

Earlier today, Live Traffic NSW had listed the following road closures in the Hunter and Mid-North Coast regions.

 Waterfall Way is closed in both directions between Raleigh and Bellingen.
 Further north at Corindi Beach, Solitary Islands Way has also closed between Coral Street and Post Office Lane.

 The Pacific Highway remains closed between Purfleet and Coopernook, near Taree.

 Other road closures also remain in place, including:
 Giinagay Way is closed in both directions between North Macksvillle and Nambucca Heads.
 The Oxley Highway is closed between Thrumster and Wauchope, as well as at Rosewood, Long Flat and Mount Seaview.
 Failford Road is closed in both directions between The Lakes Way and Bullocky Way at Failford.
 Waterfall Way is closed at Thora due to a landslide and flooding between Horseshoe Road and Gordonville Road.
 Seaham Road is closed in both directions at Raymond Terrace.