![\"\"](\"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2026\/05\/Arnaassessingflooded_19332.jpg\")
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Baartz said motorists were taking significant risks attempting to drive through floodwaters.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere were scary attempts from cars that were really too small to risk it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
With roads cut in both directions, Baartz and her partner sheltered at Crystal Creek Estate Cafe and Nursery.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe only choice we had was to stay in between these two spots, so we pulled into Crystal Creek Estate Cafe & Nursery,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Baartz said the caf\u00e9 owner welcomed them in despite closing for the day.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe welcomed us in and dried us off under her heater and gave us the best cup of tea we ever had,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe hunkered down there for a few hours as the weather continued.\u201d<\/p>\n
Baartz said she later learned a man and dog had been rescued in the Numinbah area and saw emergency crews responding nearby throughout the afternoon.<\/p>\n
Still unable to return home, the pair eventually spent the night with friends nearby.<\/p>\n
\u201cLuckily for us we had somewhere to go,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Baartz said the speed of the flooding was unlike anything she had previously witnessed.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt seemed to me to have been so much faster than I have ever seen before, but then, it had been raining for months so the ground was probably pretty waterlogged,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
NSW SES has urged people to stay out of floodwater and never drive through flooded roads.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A LIMPINWOOD resident has described being trapped between rapidly rising floodwaters near Crystal Creek earlier this week as heavy rain triggered more than 200 emergency calls and three flood rescues across the Northern Rivers and Mid North Coast. NSW State Emergency Service crews responded to widespread incidents during the severe weather, with emergency warnings issued […]<\/p>\n