The chook and the flood: A Kundabung family's amazing ten minute escape

That was the situation on Friday as heavy rainfall arrived in the region.

She quickly told her husband Barry who reacted quickly.

"I drove to the end of the driveway which was probably around 500 metres, got there and noticed the road was like a river, just running real fast," he explained to the Argus.

"I drove back to the house to pick her and the kids up, we threw a couple of washing baskets in and set off with the water coming up behind us.

"I had to just gun it across the road in front of our house and get to Silo Rd near Smiths Creek Rd.

"It flooded the house in around 5 or 10 minutes, because the water was right up to the windows.

"It was all pretty quick but in reality felt like forever, I had to run down and let the chooks out so they didn't drown."

Residents on Silo Rd let the family stay in their granny flat for the night.

The family returned to their property the next day to an area reminiscent of cyclone destruction.

"We went back when it had calmed down and there was just mud everywhere," Mr Jones said.

"The whole yard was wiped out, chook pen gone which was pretty big and fitted, shade house with a garden in it had been destroyed, there was belongings missing and scattered throughout the bush for hundreds of metres."

The Jones' real estate agent was with them when they returned and declared the house unfit for living.

The lease was terminated with the family seeking assistance from council to help with the clean up and recovery of their items.

"Our agent, with the help of Kempsey Stock and Land, are helping us find a house in town," Mr Jones said.

"We're trying to get the kids settled because they were petrified after getting evacuated [from where we're staying now] and had to go up to the Showground.

"We spent a night up there and they were frightened because they thought we were running from the flood again."

The majority of their animals managed to survive the ordeal.

One of their pet chooks provided a much needed laugh in a horrible situation.

"We got the dog out with us in the car, we weren't going to leave her," Mr Jones said.

"Our ducks came back the next day after the flood, a couple of chooks were hanging around.

"We have a pet chook who thinks it's a guard dog sitting at the front door constantly, when we got back it was sitting on top of the BBQ at the front door with the owner the next morning waiting for us so that was lucky.

"We'll keep her but we'll have to find new homes for all the other chooks since we're moving into town."

April 1 would've marked a year since they moved into the Kundabung property.

It's been a tough 12 months for the family with one of their daughters, Katelyn, recently going through cancer treatment.

For Mr Jones, losing belongings and items doesn't compare to the thought of almost losing your daughter.

It's what helps keep the family positive during a situation like this.

"Katelyn had cancer last year, so we spent 8 or 9 months at John Hunter Hospital, living at Ronald McDonald House," he explained.

"We went close to losing her so while it's hard to stay positive we just think it's nothing compared to that."

The Jones family also manage Karly's Cafe and will be looking to continue operations once everything has been sorted.

"We will try and keep the Cafe going because it's all we've got now, business was slow so we were thinking of closing but the owners are willing to help us out and stick by us," Mr Jones said.

"We'll try and keep doing the shop up once we get back on our feet."

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