The March floods not only showed what our community is made of - resilience, strength, determination - but also provided opportunities for our youngest residents to selflessly be a part of the greater effort to lend a hand.

Archie Cross is 13-years-old and didn't think twice to be a part of the community support crew when his community of North Haven was engulfed by floodwaters.

Archie, a member of the North Haven Boardriders Club, rescued people from their flooded homes and has continued to help through the clean-up effort.

The year 7 student from St Columba Anglican School relied on his trusty tinny to raise the alarm in his neighbourhood. Mum Kylie said Archie woke the morning the village had been consumed by water and launched straight into action.

"Everyone had a bad night and he woke up to a lot of text messages," Kylie said. "He just said 'I'm getting in my tinny and going out to see if I can help'.

"He helped pulled people and their animals out of houses. He's very caring and has a lot of empathy."

He, and his dad Andy, delivered flood-affected residents to higher ground where emergency services crews had assembled. Kylie then drove them to the Laurieton United Services Club in the family car.

Archie has always lived in North Haven and the threat of flooding is ever-present given their riverside location. However, what residents experienced went beyond what anyone expected.

"Everyone was saying to him that he'd done such a great job and that he was so brave," Kylie said.

"He didn't really see anything bad but he was with a lot of really emotional residents and he had to convince some of them to go because the tide was coming in. That was hard for him - he just wanted to get them out."

North Haven, like many smaller outlying villages, was left to rely on community spirit until emergency services arrived.

"We're super proud of him," Kylie said.

Sue Baker of Dunbogan echoes the efforts of the Camden Haven community's youth who she describes as "heroes". Among those are Jed and Mia Boland who rescued three of her neighbours.

"Foolishly I did not evacuate on Friday night, not expecting the flood to be anywhere near as bad as it was," Sue said.

"I checked the downstairs of my house every half hour but at the 10.30pm check, when water was rushing into the house from all directions, and with the power out, I fled down my external stairs to next door.

"This was a feat in itself as the water outside was thigh high and had already swept a lot of material up against my side gate.

"At first light on Saturday morning I was absolutely shocked to see that our houses were sitting in a lake of water. It was well above our letter boxes.

"A strong current rushing down the street was carrying all sorts of debris with it so there was no way we could get out. We couldn't get through to any emergency services so by the time it came to 10am, I became very panicky."

Thirty minutes later, 12-year-old Jed and Mia, 17, arrived in their small boat.

"The water was deep enough for the boat to come right to the front door. Those wonderful young people, over three trips, got myself, my three neighbours and a beloved family pet all the way along Longworth Road, up Bell Street and onto Camden Head Road until we reached dry land," Sue said.