Northern Rivers Hotel licensee Guy Hannigan cleans up flood damage

Flooding has brought the best and worst out of Lismore as a publican balances his gratitude for a massive clean-up response against being looted when at his most vulnerable.

The smell of a sausage sizzle in the heart of North Lismore was a welcome replacement to the stench of stale flood water as residents salvaged what they could.

Northern Rivers Hotel licensee Guy Hannigan said he and partner Monique Blackie had been buoyed by a rush of volunteers who came to help them clean up their North Lismore pub in the days since it was inundated.

Northern Rivers Hotel licensee Guy Hannigan and his partner Monique Blackie were gutted when they found their North Lismore pub had been looted on Saturday. Picture: Stuart Cumming

But they were “gutted” when they arrived on Saturday morning to find someone had broken in a stolen four full kegs of beer.

“You feel physically ill,” Ms Blackie said.

But they did not let it stop them or their army of helpers continue their salvage efforts.

Their home, upstairs at the pub, had flood water above waist level when they were rescued about midday on Monday.

A canoe rests at the second storey of the The Northern Rivers Hotel during record floods in North Lismore on February 28.

Mr Hannigan said a family of four had arrived in a canoe at his balcony and stayed until they were picked up in a sturdier boat.

The canoe remained on his pub’s awning on Saturday.

“At one point we had 13 people and two puppies on the balcony,” Mr Hannigan said.

He said he wanted to get his bottle shop reopened as soon as next week but the bar could be a month or two away.

He said finding tradies to repair the damage was going to be tough.

“The whole inside of the hotel, the roof has fallen in,” he said.

“They (tradies) are going to be so hard to get.”

Terania Street residents Jesse and Denise Perkins fear a shortage of tradespeople will make it very hard for them to get their flood ravaged North Lismore home ready to live in. Picture: Stuart Cumming

His sentiments were echoed just a little further up Terania Street where Jesse and Denise Perkins were cleaning their home.

They spent three days in an evacuation centre after water rose to 600mm inside the top level of their home.

Ms Perkins said she did not see a government boat on the day they were rescued.

“We could hear people screaming for help and there was nothing we could do,” she said.

She said she and her husband had been wholly supported by the “amazing” community when taking refuge at the Modanville Public School and Dunoon Sports Club.

“It was the people of Dunoon cooking casseroles and emptying their pantries out,” Ms Perkins said.

Army personnel go house to house in North Lismore while helping a flood response on Saturday. Picture: Stuart Cumming

She said their home was not insured for flood damage.

“We’ve got the highest house in the street and it made no difference,” she said.

Mr Perkins said trying to find tradies to repair their electrics and flood-damaged floors was going to be difficult.

“It’ll be six months to a year before we can move back in,” he said.

Southeast Queensland residents Zen Hammant, 11, Cassie Duel and Karen Rush cook a free barbecue at the intersection of Terania and Bridge Streets for flood-affected North Lismore residents on Saturday. Picture: Stuart Cumming

Their plight and that of the rest of Lismore spurred Brisbane resident Karen Rush to join friends and relatives from the Gold Coast to drive to the Northern Rivers.

With them they brought basic supplies and a barbecue, which was busy frying sausages at the intersection of Terania and Bridge Streets on Saturday.

She said her group felt compelled to help and had been warmly received.

“They’ve been really appreciative,” she said.