Gold Star Diesel, Poolwerx struggle to recover in wake of 23m Gympie flood

Many businesses in various parts of Gympie have reopened following the February 2022 floods, but the economic pain still bites hard, with some trying to overcome hundreds of thousands of dollars in losses. Here is the latest.

Gympie’s almost 23m flood disaster of February 2022 may be four months in the past but the pain is still being felt for those near the One Mile Ovals, with some trying to overcome losses of up to seven figures.

Gold Star Diesel owner Peter Vrbancic was one of the few who had not yet officially returned to work as of July 20, still struggling with his health following the disaster.

It was the ninth flood for Mr Vrbancic, owner of the Brisbane Rd business for 37 years.

The damage left by the floodwaters which came from nearby Deep Creek was immense.

“It looked like a bomb went off,” Mr Vrbancic said of the mess left behind by the waters, which covered the roof.

“We’re probably down about $90,000,” he said.

“That doesn’t include lost sales.”

Peter Vrbancic’s Gold Star Diesel business on Brisbane Rd, remains closed four months after the 2022 floods, with Mr Vrbancic saying his health had also struggled in the wake of the disaster.

The business is still closed more than four months later, despite being renovated and rebuilt.

The problem was his health in the wake of the disaster.

“Everything’s ready to go, except me,” Mr Vrbancic said.

“I’ve had a bit of a break down in my health conditions, and right now I’m on crutches … I can’t do anything right now.”

Health issues had been a problem for “a number of years” but the floods “exacerbated them”.

Poolwerx owner Conrad Reed reopened shortly after the floods but was still playing catch-up on about $80,000 of losses.

There had been great help from corners like the Gympie Chamber of Commerce, but unfortunately the financial support available did not match the losses.

His was not the only one left significantly out of pocket.

Advance Tyres owner Dave Puchala said his business, next door to Gold Star Diesel, had lost between $600,000 and $1m from the floods.

This was despite reopening in a limited capacity only a fortnight after the February disaster.

Mr Puchala said he was insured, but this would ultimately have to cover about a quarter of his losses.

Poolwerx owner Conrad Reed, whose shop was about 100m away on Graham St, had likewise reopened only a week after the floods but was still playing economic catch-up in the four months since.

The shops around Brisbane Rd and Graham St were submerged by floodwaters from Deep Creek.

Mr Reed said the shop was about $70,000-$80,000 down following the disaster and “still waiting on insurance and things”.

“That’s why we haven’t refitted (the store),” he said.

“I just don’t have that sort of money.”

The size of the flood “got a lot of people by surprise”.

The Friday before the flood the expectation was the waters would reach 20m, which was “still below the floor”.

“The Saturday, when they said ‘oh, no, we’re going to get to 23m’, by then it was too late,” Mr Reed said.

Staff were unable to get back to the shop; the lone remaining worker on site “took the computers and as much stuff as she could on the Friday, but by Saturday it was all done and dusted”.

“We just had to watch the photos come through.”

Independent Custom Fabrications owner Peter Peterson said the One Mile business area was about back to where it had been before the February floods but everyone was still trying to get over the disaster.

Mr Reed said the timing of floods, moving into autumn and winter where swimming was less popular, made the recovery more challenging.

The strong support from his customers had been a big help in keeping everything turning over.

“Next month hopefully it starts warming up,” he said.

Independent Custom Fabrication owner Peter Peterson said almost all of the nearby shops had reopened the area was close to being back to where it was before February 2022.

But not exactly the same.

“We’re still trying to get over it,” he said.