Water rose to near road level of the bridge in the centre of town and businesses sand bagged their shop fronts in the main street of Picton on Saturday night preparing for the worst.
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Flooding in the central business district is all too regular an occurrence for Picton Newsagency proprietors Tony and Michelle Higgs who had almost two metres of water through their newsagency in 2016.
They and other retailers in Argyle Street fear the worst with more than 200mm falling over the weekend and wet weather forecast for the week ahead.
Mr Higgs thinks it is not a matter of if but when water will lap at their doors in coming days.
He said the town centre has a history of flooding which he thinks is likely to continue unless more steps are taken to try and prevent it in future.
"We sand bag our businesses all the time now when we get heavy rain because we don't want to go through what we did last time when the water came down the street like a tidal wave," Mr Higgs said.
"In 2016 the creek (Stonequarry Creek) came up behind us and the water came down from the hills and we copped it both ways."
Mr Higgs pointed to a spot on the wall above his head to show where the water level reached five years ago and said he was going to put plastic behind the sand bags in front of the shop at the close of business on Sunday.
"No one was prepared last time," he said.
"But overnight (Saturday night) when it rained we all had sand bags out ready."
Mr Higgs said just 13 months ago in February 2020 the town had another scare when the creek overflowed and the water came within two metres of the back door of his shop.
He said the council keep saying they will clean the creek out but that doesn't seem to stop the water backing up.
He said the feeling among business people is more needs to be done.
Mr Higgs said he has been in business in Picton for 20 years and thinks the problem is becoming worse as more development happens in the area.
He thinks the council needs to plan for more than a one in 100 year flood because flooding is occurring regularly in the centre of town.
"We are trying our best to protect our business. That is all you can do," he said.
Read more: NSW floods - the day in pictures
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Greg Ellis
Almost four decades in electronic, print and digital media. A writer, presenter, emcee, photographer and videographer with degrees in business management, marketing and human resources and tertiary qualifications in photography.
Almost four decades in electronic, print and digital media. A writer, presenter, emcee, photographer and videographer with degrees in business management, marketing and human resources and tertiary qualifications in photography.
