Ipswich businesses strive to re-open after floods
Local businesses in the Ipswich CBD face a slow rebuild after their livelihoods were threatened once again by floodwaters.
Ipswich
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A number of Ipswich businesses have started the slow and painful process of rebuilding their livelihoods after floodwaters receded in the CBD today.
The devastation was all too familiar for some along Brisbane Street.
Hogs Breath owner Manuel Dimou said the damage caused had not been as bad as the 2011 flood, which saw waters almost touch their ceiling.
This time, it had risen to just below his shoulders — enough to fill the dining area, flow through the kitchen, and out the back door.
“We weren’t expecting it to be this bad,” he said.
“We were already inundated with water before the flood hit because our gutters couldn’t handle the volume of rain – the water was coming out of the lights.
“But the clean-up has been easier. Last time we came in and we were knee deep in sludge and mud.”
A group of people including past employees rallied around the husband and wife team and the clean-up was almost complete in a day – but it may be a longer wait until they’re operating again.
“Last time it took us three months but this time it will be longer, I don’t know when we will open,” Dimou said.
Mr Dimou said Covid-19 will make it challenging to get trades in.
“That’s my biggest fear right now,” he said.
“We’ve been waiting for months for just a quote on renovations before this happened.”
M Dimou and his wife have owned and operated the restaurant for close to two decades and they’re determined to bounce back no matter how long it takes.
“At the end of the day you have to be hopeful because why else do it?” He said.
“We are positive and we are resilient.”
A big help in recovery, Mr Dimou said, was reliant on the community buying local and supporting each other.
MacBook Medic owner Russell said when the Bremer River peaked on Sunday it was an anxious and sombre wait.
“Just not knowing how high it would rise was hard and wondering if you lifted things high enough,” he said.
Expecting the worst, the new business owner said he was relieved the floodwater had peaked at 16.72m keeping all of his valuables dry.
The endless trips up two flights of stairs, and lifting items onto high shelfs, had saved all of his important equipment.
He said it would only be a matter of time before he would be back in business — he was just waiting on power to return.
The power is expected to return on Friday.