A flood described by survivors as an “inland tsunami” leveled much of Eugowra, in central-western NSW, on the morning of November 14, 2022, claiming the lives of locals Diane Smith, 60, and Ljubisa “Les” Vugec, 85.

A five-day inquest is scrutinizing the circumstances surrounding their deaths, including the events leading up to the flood, weather warnings, and the scope of the emergency response.

NSW State Emergency Service zone commander Brigid Rice was awakened by a call from colleagues before 3am that day as a rising river imperiled the city of Bathurst, with floods inundating the villages of Molong and Canowindra.

“There was a lot for me to be taking in,” Rice told the inquest at Orange courthouse on Wednesday.

Simultaneously, Rice monitored data from gauges at Toogong and Smithfield, upstream from Eugowra, worried that water rises were “almost vertical”.

“It was rising very quickly,” she said.

At 3.49am, the Bureau of Meteorology released a flood warning for Mandagery Creek at Eugowra, indicating it was likely to reach a major flood level of nine metres.

But having seen water levels of 8m at the upstream gauges, Rice knew from previous floods that 9.5m would be merely a “starting point” at Eugowra.

She said she felt the bureau’s warnings were “inadequate” given the volume and velocity of water in brimming catchments after a night of heavy rainfall.

“I was of the firm view the nine-metre warning from the bureau would not be sufficient,” she told the inquest.

The SES began preparing for a 10.5m flood, higher than the previous 1950 record that inundated 215 houses.

Knowing floodwaters generally took 12 hours to get from Toogong to Eugowra, Rice began preparing evacuation zone maps and emergency messaging.

At 6.12am a geo-targeted text message went out to Eugowra locals, telling people in low-lying areas to evacuate immediately.

The inquest has previously been told that the eastern side of Eugowra was generally considered “safe”, based on previous floods, while the western side historically copped the brunt of floods.

Several witnesses have described people moving to a bridge in the centre of town, or to the eastern side in preparation for the flood, including Smith.

But after 9am, a sudden and destructive “wall of water” swept through much of the town damaging or destroying a majority of houses – including on the eastern side – and sparking more than 100 helicopter rescues.

Rice agreed that the SES evacuation message put the onus on Eugowra locals to self-identify as being in a low-lying area.

Since the flood, the western zone has changed the wording of its messages ensuring they are relevant to individual communities.

“In some towns heights are really meaningful, other towns years are really meaningful, in other towns gauges are very meaningful,” Rice said.

The inquest continues before Deputy State Coroner David O’Neil.