Speers Point residents whose properties were hit by a torrent of water from a nearby subdivision on Sunday say it is not the first occurrence of runoff from the site and they raised concerns with the developer and council multiple times.
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A host of residents spent Monday assessing the damage to their Hopkins Street properties and clearing mud and landscaping products caked through their yards.
Water had spewed from a recently earth-worked site on Munibung Hill shortly after sunrise on Sunday following 48 hours of rain.
"My six-year-old daughter came and woke up my wife and I and said, 'oh, we've got a bit of bark on the deck'," said Ben Tye, whose property backs onto the site.
"We went out and discovered the backyard was a complete cascade.
"The volume of water - we've never seen anything like it."
Like most residents, Mr Tye managed to keep the water from entering the living areas of his house.
However, there was no stopping it gouging its way through the yard, along the back of retaining walls and under parts of the house.
He said the "rapid" flow of water, which lasted for about two hours, moved multiple one-tonne sandstone blocks at the front of his property.
"Things that we're worried about are our footings which have potentially washed away under our deck, we need to get that checked," he said.
"Our ducted air-conditioning unit, our hot water system, our gas bottles - [they are] all damaged. And then just the mass gardens that have washed away."
Across the street, where the water flowed, residents were lucky to avoid having their houses flooded.
Amelia Javurek, who was home with her two kids at the time, said the water level reached "waist-high" on her eight-year-old daughter.
When the Newcastle Herald spoke to Ms Javurek on Monday morning, workers attached to SNL Building Constructions - the subdivision site's development managers - were cleaning up her yard. She said they had been clearing muck in the street from about 7am.
While grateful SNL appeared to be taking responsibility, Ms Javurek said she was yet to hear from the company.
She was unsure if her garage was going to be cleared of mud and where she stood in terms of damaged contents, mainly her husband's tools, and potential damage to the footings of their house.
At the top of the street, Fiona and Brendan Stobbart's property bore the brunt of the water.
Ms Stobbart, who described the volume of water as "phenomenal", said Sunday's incident was unfortunately no real surprise as their property had been inundated before.
"All the water came through our property first before it hit Ben's," she said.
"It's now happened to us five times. Since the land development started, it's always washed down here through our property.
"This is the worst it has been."
Ms Stobbart said the council had previously responded to the couple's concerns, installing sediment fences.
She said earthworks on the subdivision land increased significantly in the past year, but she was of the opinion the site did not have adequate drainage.
"The water's coming off [Munibung] Hill, it's got to go somewhere," she said.
"Behind us, back in the quarry that's now been filled, used to be a massive big hole. In the April storm of 2015, we didn't have any water through our property, nothing. That hole, you could have put a ski-boat on it and skied on there. But by the next day, the water had receded. It had gone through the natural springs and got away.
"Now, since they've covered [that hole], the water's got to go somewhere and that somewhere is through our properties."
In a response to the Herald on Monday night, SNL Building Constructions said the torrent was caused after "a berm located along the western batter of the site was breached by flood waters".
"This event was outside our control," it said, noting recent earthworks were completed by Robson Civil Contractors.
"Flash flooding occurred due to the storm event. We believe around 185mm of rain fell in the immediate vicinity of the site.
'We had erosion and sediment control mechanisms in place; approved and overseen by council."
Residents were concerned about whether SNL would cover the cost of repairs.
The company said "further discussions will be forthcoming with residents" once a "review is complete".
"There's no way we are paying," Ms Stobbart said.
"Soil is not cheap, bark is not cheap - and it's the labour of doing it.
"To me [SNL] have taken responsibility by being here.
"I do want them to pick up the bill and make sure this doesn't happen again.
"Now this has happened on a massive scale, hopefully council will make a difference. Hopefully something will change."
Lake Macquarie council said it was "working with the developer to ensure the site is secure and to mitigate the possibility of further instances".
"We will investigate the incident to determine if any further action is required," a spokesperson said.
"The developer has met with the residents most impacted and is coordinating the response to the situation."