The deafening roar of the creek and water seemingly appearing out of nowhere will haunt Molong business owner Wendy Henry for a while yet.
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Ms Henry said the torrent that swept through Molong on Monday morning, November 14, was her "worst nightmare."
She found her Booful Gifts and Homewares store torn apart in the early hours of the morning and told ACM the power and ferocity of the water was unlike anything she had ever seen.
"The creek was roaring and I kept saying I need to go down to the shop, not that there was much I could do," she said.
"Everything was sandbagged, we had done all the right things but it was one of those unexpected nasty events. It was your worst nightmare.
"Everything inside was thrown around like you can't believe. I'm just gobsmacked about how much power there was."
Such was the ferocity of the water, it was able to easily sweep a 40-foot shipping container down the highway and past Bank Street.
Ms Henry said the event was worse than the 2005 floods that ripped a bridge from its foundations.
"I was here in 2005, not that I had a shop in the main street then, but this was worse," she said.
"The power of the water was just incredible and it came up so quickly.
"It was terrifying. The worst thing in 2005 were some 44-gallon drums coming through from the service station but that was pretty scary."
Ms Henry said she had extensive damage to her store with the the water smashing both her windows and reaching over a metre in height.
Residents and business owners banded together throughout Monday, undertaking a massive clean-up effort with the assistance of emergency services.
One business owner described it as a "war zone" but Ms Henry said out of disaster emerged a community spirit she was proud of.
"The community has been unbelievable," she explained.
"They've had coffee, water and hamburgers coming around. People with mops and brooms washing it out. It's times like these you feel good living in a country town.
"It will be devastating for the town. We're just hunkering down before it sinks in. I've suggested we could have a big street party with tables down the street and plenty of food.
"Just have a big fun day to get over it and put it in its place."
