I live in Grafton ol' mate, and I have a vivid memory of the flood in the sixties where I was sitting on my front step and seeing nothing but water to my left. The Clarence River actually finished around two hundred metres up the road in that direction. Great vid mate, but I have better burnt into my memory from years ago when I was four.
Thank you for Sharing Alex. As a Port Mac native, and current resident, this brings tears to my eyes. This is an important piece of work you have done, and I hope you get the credit you deserve! well done!
Well done on the footage mate. Seeing the footage and photos on the news does nothing to put it into perspective the way you have. Incredibly sad and devastating for so many people. My heart goes out to all affected.
thanks mate...done well..i was born in armidale nsw .now living in queensland...we used to go there alot on weekends...thanks for showing the extent..not just clips like the news...a lot of people all over are thinking of you guys along the coast .... god bless
now is the time for you to make noise about things like airports and buildings with stilts etc. i was north coast myself looking to go back. its time for them to stop being treated like second class citizerns.
Great capture. Our hearts go out to all the people who lost their precious homes and businesses. I hope the clean up activities are on full swing. Would love to see before and after footage.
Hi Alex, thank you for such a detailed and comprehensive video of Port Macquarie. Ironically, my friend in Germany found it and sent it to me. I have subscribed! thanks again!
Spent 2 years living in port Macquarie. Went through the fires but luckily missed out on this, such heart breaking video of a beautiful town suffering again.
Paul Salveston glad you are safe this has happened before and will again in years to come as some of Port is built on reclaimed swamp land ,the canals settlement city Westport bowling club etc at least when the waters recede people can possibly retrieve some personal items eg photos with fires everything is gone
Why can't the media present the truth as you have just done. No unnecessary commentary, the pictures speak for themselves. Alex, congrats on a great effort. I would imagine that was hard to put together as you travelled from one spot to another. Out of interest what model drone do you? Thanks for a great video!!!
Thanks! A DJI Mavic Air 2.. brand new.. this was it's first outing.. I have some others but this was the one that was good to go! Yes took a day to snatch times when not raining.. and lastly a few hundred metres walk and wading along closed road to get to the ideal launch point.. worth the effort and day to get it together!
@@AlexMcNaught modesty aside you aught to be proud of your achievement amazing footage.. the long shot from upriver showing the silt way out to sea stopped me dead ! I hope the powers that be can & will use this drone footage to better plan for the future....the next flood may be from the sea..
"Why can't the media present the truth as you have just done." No dramatic commentary filled with hyperbole, Ken. That's what has become of the television "news" and the reason I gave up watching it some time ago. I cannot stand the way it is presented nor can I tolerate the narrative from the so-called journalists. So thank you, Alex. As Ken said....this is what is needed; we can do the commentary in our minds. (By-the-way.....our family home was at Kendall for over 50 years, 1948 - 2005, and suffered inundation in the 1960's flood (1961?). Miss Nellies, back in our day, was the local butcher shop.)
Done a great job, Alex. Thanks for lettings us in Port know about the devastation - and and I write this the downpour continues. hope it ends soon. All the best.
Dear Alex thanks so much for the amazing video. We are so grateful. So amazing to see our place from the air. I would love for you to do a repeat of the same footage now the clean up has begun and with the sun shining. Very grateful to you. Barb
Hi Barb, Thanks for that! I will certainly try.. there may be some areas I can't go again with normal levels of activity resumed but I'd like to pick areas I can do and compare for sure!
Thanks for the coverage Alex. It is heartbreaking to see it all the way over here in SA. I was supposed to be flying in to see family today. Praying conditions ease and everyone remains safe.
Not your usual uplifting drone footage Alex, but an important record of this disaster, really well done. We live in Scotland, but have family in Port, so have been keeping up to date and thinking of everyone over there. Good luck with the clean up! Hopefully there will be some of that Aussie sunshine soon to help.
Yes a very different tone.. it was a very different situation to my normal themes.. regular programming will return soon! Thanks for watching and enjoying :-) I have a huge travel agenda being lined up as we speak.. from inland deserts to far flung islands.. there are a few remote points on the Australian compass I will get to and I am getting in the gear I need to launch very soon!
Great footage Alex, the inlaws live in Port and was great trying to spot places we've been! Looks a bit different with all that water tho! Will definitely be checking out your other videos 😀👍
This is Brilliant, Thank You. We lived on the Nth Shore for 11years, 1990 - 2001, we had 2 smallish floods but nothing like this, never seen Town under water, even the Old Coles where we worked was under. I’m sharing this to my kids whom none of us live in Port Now but my Sons Father in Law still does.
Excellent footage, Thank you. When I moved to Port in 1988 looked at land on Settlement Point Road, found out banks would not lend because of the flood zoning, so pleased I took their advice.
Thank you so much for this informative video Alex. It’s so sad to see what has been happening around Port Macquarie. My heart goes for all the businesses and homes that have been affected. Hopefully, in the next following weeks, we can all see the beauty of Port Mac again. Looking forward to your video. Stay safe.
Good presentation. So many people affected. Certainly a good reason to raise some roads in the area. Perhaps realestate prices are a little inflated there until there's some serious mitigation.
Awesome footage mate. May Mums house is on the water at settlement city. Her place was not badly damaged due to the way they smartly built the development on high ground. She currently lives in Whistler BC and will be stocked to see this footage. Thanks so much.
Really appreciate this footage, especially as have friends living there and helps me see the extent of local situation. The creepy soundtrack is frightening in parts. Some honest feedback; I'm not a troll. Thinking of you PM, wishing everyone safety now, and as you rebuild your beautiful community.
We were on holidays at Port Macquarie and left on the 17thMarch the day the rains started.Looking at this video makes my heart break to see so much damage and yet the relief that we left before all this.This is one of my favourite place to holiday from the Hunter Valley as l just love the beaches there.
You may want to push back your visit for a little while and see how things pan out here.. need the rain to stop first then time for water to drop and cleanups to happen
I live in North Haven and like many others we lost pretty much everything we owned! SUPs and surfboards literally floated away, so devastating all our elderly neighbours and young families who are in the same boat, just heartbreaking man
I have visited a number of times and have enjoyed each visit. Amazing footage, dreadful sight , I remember driving past a lot of those places and seeing them now like they are part of the river is unbelievable. I wonder what place like Laurieton and Lake Cathie have been like with their river system.
Thank you so much for this, we live in Park st, surrounded by water...good to see Exactly what it looks like, and if I need to get out, where I can go, thanks
Holidayed in Port three times. Always think it would be a great place to live. I'm sure it still will be again when the mess gets cleared up. Have a photo taken down by the Panthers Club up that stretch of water with the sun setting and a couple walking across that groin over which the water is flooding. Stay safe everyone.
Thank you very much mate. You deserve a nomination for Australian of the year! Thank you for showing us the true extent of the damage to our peaceful little town. If there's help needed my the general public count me in. I'm up in Koala street direction if you need me.
What a birds eye view of our devastated town. So many homes under water, so many peoples lives affected. I visited the beaches, but didn’t appreciate all the water along the river frontage.... Tiffins Lake... no longer Tiffins lane. Thanks so much for filming this for our greater understanding of this flood in our town - and more rain to come! thanks Alex
....to the person who created this. you have created some excellent and captivating footage. ....as a suggestion when the floods have completly receeded maybe could you go back and do the same circuit again to show the extent of the flooding. just a suggestion ....aside from all this, ill reckon there is going to be a reassessment of whats insurable in future, and some serious insurance price hikes. ....and also there is going to be a real long term dent in the peoperty market, seriously who know will buy int these low laying regions ....one has to wonder at the maybe millions of tonn of soil washed out to sea, given the browness of the silt laden water
Where not to buy real estate in Port Macquarie. This happens regularly. When we moved here we found out quickly all the places to avoid. Poor planning and infrastructure (cheap & nasty road building ) by our incompetent PMHC doesn't help.
Amazing work. Well done mate. Only 1 thing tho. You have captured the moment so well, For someone like myself that has no idea how it normally looks. Once levels are back to the normal. Could you please try and get as close as possible to flying the same paths to be able to see before and after? Thanks
Well it certainly *iS* dire.. I had to walk in and lead my horse in the dark and out of the rising floodwaters the previous evening ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-fCY4lfIRbJw.html
I advice you to take the footage after flood waters are gone It would be a great Before and After video But yes it's a sad situation for who all lost their homes.
Is there a chance for you to get down to Camden Haven-Kendall or even on top of North Brother Mountain to show the Camden Haven River plus Queens and Watson-Taylor Lake? BTW, excellent drone footage. Your stuff can go to historical archives, it that good.
Believe it or not the canal developments mitigated a lot around the westport area (yes it could have been worse, going by how Settlers Inn flooded during the last 1/100 year flood before the canals were there). Some family friends lost everything in Riverside Village :(. They get tidal backflow in that culvert that runs through the village.
Definitely want to do that.. maybe a mix of split image and merge to and from each version from the same viewpoint.. it won't be possible to do the exact same track but it should be close enough to work and show the before/after well
How powerful is mother nature, how in a matter of days she could take back what is hers. We must respect her or feel her wrath. In saying that she provides with life, with water sweet water to bring life to inner parts of Australia. New wetlands she softens the ground, bringing life animals & vegetation she does what man cannot do, tame the land. So far she hasn't taken any human lives animals use their instinct to move to high grounds to get away from floods, those that perish are stuck in fenced areas at the hands of humans. Amy human that do die do so taking risks driving in wet weather or falling into rivers humans lack the instinct to sender danger before it come. Let's hope that man built a strong Dam enough to withhold all the rainfall because I'd it fails it's not a natural disaster it's human disaster.
Abbey Jane no it is not a hundred year flood this happened in 1977 and in the 1960s when the 100 year flood does happen a lot of the houses on the canals will be possibly flooded including Settlement City it is reclaimed swamp land
Not yet, although I'd dearly love to. Logistics make it problematic right now.. flying distance, line of sight, weather and no nearby land based launch points etc all big factors
@@AlexMcNaught I was over there on Friday afternoon, all the the Pl, Ct & St off Shoreline were flooded. Some sections of Riverside Dr also flooded. Wharf next to Hibbard Ferry (North side) well under and the road near to the ferry partially under.
Thanks Alex, an important record and nicely filmed. Could you possibly get some footage of the Settlement Point Ferry, North Shore Drive and Riverside Drive? The floods have had a big impact there.
@@AlexMcNaught I am also interested in the area between hastings river drive through to back of the racecourse to see how it faired. A lot of water comes up the back from harvey normans, across the airport road and along to the tennis courts. Just curious how far it actually came in that area.
@@robynmills142 I'd love to and will certainly try! Weather firstly then road & launch point access are the limiting factors.. I'm poised and ready to jump onto next breaks in the rain so I can fly!
thank you for the video it is well done, i would like to let people know this is not the 100 year flood it is the same flooding we had back in 1977 only thing then is the car sales yard next to Aldi was the drive in and it got flooded
@@okeyjet I think it probably did as then we had king tides as well as CHRISTmas tides and there was no building where office works and jb hifi is now it was just vacant land
I took care not to go over houses.. by going down centreline of street, off shorelines etc..In fact if you look at the 16:53 mark you will see a white police van and just in front of them is me standing there doing the flying.. when I set up right in front of them they were super interested in the footage and the view from up there!
@@AlexMcNaught Thanks heaps. That's really interesting. I just bought a drone and trying to learn the rules. It says on the OpenSky app that Port Macquarie is a no-fly zone (there are two zones overlapping), and also on the CASA site that flying where emergency services are working is prohibited. I'm not questioning your legality here, just wondering how it all works. I'm much further south and would love to get some shots too.
@@lukecasey3480 That's not a "no fly" you are seeing on that app.. its just letting you know of airport/heliport.. aside from running down the runways you are within your rights to fly there and descend/land to avoid any traffic.. there hasn't been much of THAT around here lately that's for sure! The only prohibited airports are the majors with towered aerodromes such as Sydney, Brisbane.. and major regionals such as Coffs Harbour and a few others.. apart from that you're free to fly 99% of the country! Australia is mostly empty l;ol
@@AlexMcNaught Fair dinkum! That's changed everything. Can't thank you enough. They say that people get caught when they post on social media, so good news to hear for that too. Drones have to help for things like flood, where they're using them to locate stranded animals. Cheers, Alex, thanks again. Happy flying. Took a lot of courage, too, with your new Mavic out there for the first fly!
So, some nice footage yes. However I do believe (but could be wrong) that it is illegal to fly in a disaster area without CASA approval and a notams being put in place, and at least you are not allowed to fly over people, roads, buildings etc.
No.. only when its a towered aerodrome such as the major ones Sydney, Brisbane or major regional such as Tamworth, Coffs Harbour etc.. the vast majority of airports are untowered
