A YEAR has passed since the devastating March floods but the battle is far from over for Yoogali.
The village has lost its corner store and post office and residents are dealing with high insurance premiums, low house values and the fear of another disaster.
The distant shining light is council's plan to fix the town's drainage system and install a pump at the bottom of the main street.
Resident Michael Fisher orchestrated a crisis meeting with council last year to discuss short-term solutions to the flood risk, which resulted in an agreement to install the pump, a device approved by a former council more than 20 years ago.
Despite the agreement, he said there was a feeling around Yoogali that life would never be quite the same again.
"The floods have changed the psyche of people who have lived in Yoogali for a long time, particularly the more elderly residents," Mr Fisher said.
"There's the fear that this could happen to them again."
The demise of the Yoogali Store has had a profound effect on the community and has served as an endless reminder of the destruction caused by the floods.
Residents are now forced to travel into Griffith for items that used to be a short walk away.
"The main inconvenience is postage and picking up parcels but you also get used to calling in to get a few things after work bread and milk for example," resident David Taylor said.
The fight will continue for many of the village's residents, who were calling for a solution to flash-flooding long before the March floods hit.
Long-time resident Gino Ceccato, who lived in a caravan for six months after the floods, said a number of things needed to be done to allow locals to feel safe again.
"We're right on the channel here we might as well be sitting alongside the Murrumbidgee River when it comes to flood risk," Mr Ceccato said.
"What we need for Yoogali is to build up sections of the bank along Main Drain J to form a levee, to install self-closing doors in every outlet and to clean out the drainage channels all the way from Barren Box Swamp to Yenda."
"Along with the pump council's going to install, that will keep the water in the channel rather than flowing into our homes."