They made the trip to see their younger son Chris at Riverview College and obtain information on the "ins and outs" of the HSC year, which he's just started.

But when they returned to their Napier St residence at about 8.30pm on Sunday and opened the front door, they were immediately confronted with the knowledge that their home was one of the worst hit by the extraordinary storm which deluged East Tamworth late on Saturday night.

Every one of their home's nine-rooms – except for one bathroom – had been flooded by the storm which dumped upwards of 200mm (8in) on the suburb.

The stormwater apparently forced the back door open and from there it raced throughout the house before making its way out the front.

For Mr Broadhurst, a partner in the long-established law firm McMahon and Broadhurst, and his wife, a GP who practises in South Tamworth, there was little they could do with the floors, all slightly under water or very very damp, so they booked themselves into the Powerhouse Motel for the night.

Come 8am yesterday, the Tamworth Fire Brigade was there to pump water from the house, but by then, most of it had dispersed.

The carpets, though, were wet and muddy and the wine cellar under the wooden-floor verandah at the front of the house was under water – about 25cm deep – and every one of the several dozen bottles of quality wine was covered in fine brown mud.

Mr Broadhurst said it wasn't his top priority, but yes, he would embark on a salvage operation.