Landowners still rebuilding a year after deepest snowfall in 'living memory'

Landholders still rebuilding 12 months after deepest snowfall in 'living memory' Sat 8 Aug 2026 at 6:27am , updatedSat 8 Aug 2026 at 6:32am When New South Wales Northern Tablelands residents woke up to a snowfall last August, they couldn't have imagined they would still be cleaning up 12 months on. The snow closed roads, cut power and felled branches and fences across swathes of the region. Although the Bureau of Meteorology does not have official records of alpine snowfalls and snow depth, it was reported at the time that snowfalls of up to 20 to 40 centimetres were seen in areas such as Guyra, Walcha and Armidale. Warren Yeomans, the sixth generation to run his family's fruit orchard at Arding, said the snow was unlike anything he had seen before. "The snow event itself was once in a lifetime; it was far bigger than any other known in living memory." Slow and tedious work The Yeomans' family orchard has been operating for more than 160 years, growing cherries, apples, pears and more. Mr Yeomans said the snow extensively damaged their netted orchards, with the estimated cost about half a million dollars. "It [the snow] collapsed all of our structures as well as a lot of native timber, which is still an ongoing process in cleaning up. "Literally cutting net off the structure which was all over the place, we removed all the net, then all the wires and cables, undoing clips and things which there are thousands of. "It's a long process of physical labour. We are moving forwards but it's starting from a long way back." Mr Yeomans said the impact from the snowstorm on their business, Greenhill Orchards, was being felt this season and possibly would be for years to come. "We had a very low crop this year because of the tree damage … they had to recover and get their root systems back in place so we had a significantly reduced crop." Community steps in to help A natural disaster declaration by the state government covered 10 local government areas, including Armidale and Uralla. Assistance included grants for low-income uninsured residents and concessional interest rate loans for small businesses, primary producers and non-profit organisations. "We were able to apply for a low-interest loan but that's been a long and arduous task," Mr Yeomans said. He said there was still a lot of work to do on the orchard in the long term. "We're probably halfway through getting our structures back in place. "It was a disaster in slow motion and the recovery seems to be the same sort of thing. It's in slow motion too." Slipping through the cracks Less than 30 kilometres north of the orchard is the Kindly Animal Sanctuary. Trinity Hooper and her mother Naomi call the sanctuary home alongside the countless chickens, cattle, donkeys, pigs and even camels they care for. The not-for-profit was also inundated with snow, leaving many animals confused and cold. Ms Hooper said her mother spent hours in the snow. "She walked the 350 acres multiple times throughout those couple of days, carting food and water to every single animal. "So much work and every time you turned around there was another animal behind you that shouldn't be there because a tree had fallen on their fence. "We literally did not own a single fence that didn't have a tree on it." Ms Hooper said she did not know how much money the repair would cost them, but that it had been an enormous undertaking. "Just to repair one fence with one tree on it, you're looking at anywhere between $5,000 and $10,000," she said. "We're still doing it. It's 12 months later and we still have not finished the clean-up." Ms Hooper said the sanctuary was unsuccessful when applying for grants from the natural disaster declaration. "I think we do just fall through the cracks because even though we do have the cattle and sheep and things that do tick a lot of those boxes, they're not for commercial use or you don't have primary producer status. "I think it would be lovely if the government did sit there with a checklist and say, 'Alright, we've helped the farmers, we've helped the community members and we've repaired the school … how about we go out and look at the charities and send them some money, let's send them help.' "Because at the moment we're just extremely unseen."