NSW SES volunteer Savannah-Lee Bevan and her mum Cheree join forced during Forbes flooding

"I knew our house was in the flood zone, so I said, 'Mum, we've got this massive thing coming. I need you to come get stuff ready. I need sandbags, but we don't have enough of them made'," Ms Bevan said.

"And within five minutes, my mum had called me back and brought maybe 15 people out with her. This is the first time I ever asked my mom for help with an SES job."

As a single mother of six, Cheree Bevan already had enough on her plate. But as the flood crisis deepened, she watched her daughter increasingly run off her feet.

"I watched Savannah get callout after callout after callout and I thought to myself: 'You need to get in there and help them out'."

Even though she hadn't yet signed up, Cheree helped the SES, coordinating jobs and people from the local shed.

"It was in that time I thought, 'You know, I really enjoy this. It's a really nice crew'. I've never really done much for myself, I've just been a mum since I was 18. So I guess that's something for me to be able to give back to the community. Because I do enjoy helping people," she said.

Cheree joined the Forbes unit, alongside her daughters Savannah-Lee and Montana.

Savannah-Lee, Cheree and Montana weren't to know there was an even greater need for help just around the corner.

"Savannah and I are actually born, grew up and have a very long history in Eugowra, which was 25 minutes away. And it was fully wiped out by the inland tsunami, as they're calling it. So there was a lot to do over there in the first couple of days," Cheree recalled.

"It was definitely the toughest two or three days of the whole event," Savannah-Lee said.

"Whether my house was going to go under or not was the least of my worries. All I wanted to do was get on a helicopter and be in Eugowra and be able to see my Nan and Pop.

"In that moment, it was just so personal. But I knew that I had to stay here in Forbes because there was more coming for us. So it was a very, very tough few days. Lots of tears, to be honest."

Even after Eugowra, the flood crisis continued across the state, moving south with the flood water.

Cheree soon found herself at the edge of her comfort zone, flying out in a helicopter with her daughters to sandbag Booligal in western New South Wales.

"We couldn't get enough people to go, and the day before we flew, I put my mum in my SES uniform and she got on it," Savannah-Lee recalled.

"It was my second time flying in my entire life. And I don't do well with motion or heights," Cheree said.

"I was definitely happy to come home and have that helicopter land safely on the ground."

After going through so much together, Savannah-Lee couldn't be prouder of her mum.

"Not only is my mum managing all our home life, all the children's schooling, and working. She's volunteering on top of that. And I just I think that's incredible."

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