Family and friends of two of the storm victims paid their respects and said their goodbyes at services in Dungog and Rutherford on Thursday.

Eighty-six-year-old great-­grandmother Anne Jarmain was remembered as a modest and ­independent woman who was admired by everyone who met her.

Meanwhile, 200 mourners paid their respects to Brian Alexander Wilson, who died during the flood at Dungog last week.

The term natural disaster usually relates to far-flung places on the ­planet that we read about online or watch on the evening news.

But our community has been through a disaster in the past week. 

The human cost of last week’s storms is obvious.

Damage to roads, dead livestock and major financial losses for businesses across the city are beginning to become apparent as the region counts the cost of the super storm, now that the puddles are starting to dry.

You don’t have to go far in Maitland to see parts of the town that still ­resemble lakes, a week after the rain stopped.

The popular Tocal Field Days event has been called off for the year, two days before it was to kick off, and news has come through that the North Coast Rail Line will be out of action for ­commuters between Maitland and Dungog until the middle of May.

To top it off, a new east coast low is developing off the coast of Queensland – though weather experts say it won’t hit the Hunter as hard as it did last week.

As floodwater continues to drain, it’s important that we stick together and help each other repair the damage.