The weather bureau issued a major flood alert for a rural village at 9.07am, warning of very high river levels in the afternoon.

About 17 minutes later, the village of Eugowra, in central western NSW, was hit by a destructive flash flood described by survivors as a "wall of water" or an "inland tsunami".

Lifelong resident Diane Smith, 60, and Ljubisa "Les" Vugec, 85, died in the disaster on November 14, 2022, which also resulted in 124 helicopter rescues as locals clung to trees or perched on roofs to survive.

The vast majority of houses in the village, which has a population of 800, were damaged or destroyed when the Mandagery Creek peaked at 11.02 metres.

An inquest is examining the deaths of Smith and Vugec, along with the lead-up to the disaster, the weather warnings and the scale

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