Spud Thomas, Annette Schefe, their three children, 70 dogs, and a visiting family sat in hope on the morning of December 27 last year as the waters of the Edith and Ferguson Rivers rose.

In four hours, the water climbed 1.5 metres to swallow the house and vehicles and wash away 10 poddy calves on Edith Springs Station, more than 30km north of Katherine.

The families worked together to coordinate the escape and emergency assistance, which Annette said was their saving grace.

“It would have been a totally different situation if we didn’t have anyone else there, there would have been lives lost,” she said.

After Boxing Day dumped two inches of “nice, steady” rain, Ms Schefe checked the weather to find they had a 70 per cent chance of getting between one and two inches over night.

But by 5.15am the next morning, the roaring river had closed in on the house.

One of the family’s friends woke in her swag to find ankle-deep water lapping the floor.

Click on the photo to see more images.

Working-dog trainer and contractor Spud flew outside to check his dogs, some of which were up on hind legs in one foot of water.

He started releasing them and leading them to higher ground, while inside the house the families started piling belongings on benches.

“We had to get as much as we could up high. The water was rising so fast, and towards power points,” Annette said.

It was then she rang 000 for help - and in the 20 minutes she was talking, the water rose another foot.

Read the full story in this week's Katherine Times