Living off-grid was what Phebe wanted - and then came the floods

27-year-old Phebe Gelfling spent five days isolated alone during the recent flood event, with minimal food, no electricity, no internet and no phone reception. And no idea what was happening in the outside world.

Inland from Kempsey, Gelfling lives off-grid by choice.

Usually, she considers her remote lifestyle idyllic, but during the recent flooding, comfortable isolation became lonely disconnection.

Gelfling told the Mid North Coaster she had no idea about the extent of flooding across the Mid North Coast and beyond.

“I live a pretty isolated life generally and by choice, and I love that aspect of it, but in an event like this it was really challenging, being so cut off,” Gelfling said.

Gelfling has to cross a low-lying bridge to reach her property. Coming home from work on the Tuesday ahead of the worst flooding, she noticed the water levels were high, but wasn’t too concerned as this was not uncommon.

Day one – cosy in her caravan

On the Wednesday morning, Gelfling got ready for work. Driving towards town, she found the bridge completely under water and turned around. She was unfazed and  welcomed a “rain-day”.

“To be honest, it was a bit exciting, a bit of a novelty. I thought ‘Ooh, I get to stay home today’,” Gelfling said. 

She cosied up in her caravan while it “bucketed down” rain outside. “I had a great day in my jammies.”

Day two – Being stuck is inconvenient

The next day? Same story, but the novelty had worn off.

“That’s when it became inconvenient,” she said. “I thought ‘I’m stuck here and no one knows I’m stuck here’.”

Without updates from the outside world, Gelfling said she “didn’t understand the size of the problem”.

Day three - emotional breakdown 

The water levels subsided on the third day and Gelfling thought she’d be able to get out, but her relief was short-lived. 

“I went to drive out and there’s no bridge. The bridge is gone.”

At this point – with only one way in and out – the reality of being trapped set in.

“That’s when I started crying.”

On the verge of a breakdown, Gelfling drove in the opposite direction for some time, climbed a hill in the rain and waved her phone around until she found just enough mobile service to call her mum.

Out of the loop

She cried over the phone about what she perceived as a “me problem”, only to have her mother explain the severity of the flooding.

“She was telling me the whole town is under water, people have lost their homes, people have lost their pets, their cows are swimming down the river, it’s that scale. It was the weirdest feeling of being so disconnected, I’d never felt that way before – so out of the loop.”

Eggs for three days

Since moving to her property in the Macleay Valley three years ago, Gelfling hadn’t experienced flood. She didn’t know how bad it could get, and the importance of stocking up the pantry. And now, she had run out of food. 

Gelfling’s caravan is powered by solar, and leading up to the flood were days without sun. She ran out of electricity on the same day she ran out of food.

The fridge wasn’t working, and “any remaining food that I hadn’t already eaten went off,” she said. “I fed it to the chickens.”

Those chickens would repay the favour.

“Luckily, my chickens came to the rescue and I ate eggs for three days. Just eggs,” Gelfling said. 

Using gas to cook, she had eggs three ways - scrambled, boiled and fried.

Someone builds a bridge

Isolated, and feeling increasingly hungry and helpless, Gelfling drove three times a day to where the bridge used to be. On one of these trips she noticed all her neighbours had evacuated, which only exacerbated the sense of being alone.

“There were no cars in the driveways. I guess these farmers, they’ve lived there forever, and they know ‘time to go’,” Gelfling said. “I feel like a novice, I didn’t take it seriously.” 

On the Sunday, she made it to the other side.

“Someone had built a bridge, I don’t know who, but I could kiss them.”

Gelfling drove straight to a friend’s place: “She made me lasagne and gave me her wifi password.” 

Scrolling through social media, Gelfling said she was shocked by the photos and footage of flood-affected areas.

Out of sync

 “I felt so out of sync,” said Gelfling, reflecting on the experience. 

It was also the first time she had been concerned about the lack of mobile coverage.

“By choice, I live out in the bush in a caravan, and I absolutely love it. I love the isolation. I love it being just me and my caravan and my chickens out in the bush, that’s my idea of an ideal way to live,” Gelfling said. “But that was the first time in three years I’ve actually felt isolated.”

Gelfling describes herself as a social person who “loves seeing people everyday”.

“And I do have access to the internet when I’m in town; it’s a normal part of my day, checking in on social media.”

Better reception a safety issue

Gelfling’s plot is outside mobile phone tower range. 

“I’ve never been concerned about not having phone service before, I quite even enjoy not having phone service, but for the first time, I realised it’s important,” she said.

Gelfling would like to see additional mobile phone service towers be introduced to the area.

“It’s not just me, everyone out there is so cut off. It’s unsafe. People could be in trouble.”