How the Mid North Coast is recovering from March 2021 floods
Today marks the one year anniversary of the devastating floods that ripped through the state’s Mid North Coast. Find out how some of the locals bounced back and where the clean-up is up to.
Mid-North Coast
Don't miss out on the headlines from Mid-North Coast. Followed categories will be added to My News.
If everything goes to plan today, the owners of Just Brows salon in Port Macquarie may rid themselves of their March 19 curse.
On the first anniversary of the devastating floods that decimated the Mid North Coast last year - destroying oyster crops, killing livestock and leaving thousands of homes uninhabitable - salon owner Sonu hoped disaster wouldn’t strike for the third year in a row.
On March 19, 2020, Just Brows - together with businesses right across the region - were told they had to shut up shop indefinitely because of the Covid-19 pandemic sweeping the globe.
They had only just started to recover from the crippling financial impacts of that period when on the night of March 19, 2021, disaster struck again.
The Mid North Coast and surrounds were hit by a once-in-100-year flood crises as the Hastings River inundated the city centre and everywhere along its banks.
People watched on in horror across the globe as scenes from the floods played out in real time. The incredible sight of an entire home knocked off its foundations and floating down the Manning River in Taree was just one of the memories etched into minds from those few days.
Sonu and her family desperately tried to protect their Short St shop and others in the block, jamming sandbags up against the doors and windows as the water rapidly rose.
“I was there until 2am putting sandbags on my shop because they were telling us the tide might come and it would be bad,” she said at the time. “We put in more than 100 sandbags in front of every shop around there.”
It wouldn’t be enough.
The business was destroyed by the water that gushed through the coastal city, surprising everyone, even those who had lived through many floods before. A year on, Sonu reflects on that harrowing few days and the way in which the tight-knit community came together to help them again get back on their feet.
“We lost everything,” she said.
“The water was shoulder height and we couldn’t get into the building for two days.”
The clean-up took months and Sonu is greatful for the overwhelming support they were given along the way.
“The business was closed for two months, but the community support was great,” she said.
“We had friends supporting us, and there would even be people walking by who would stop to help.”
Another Short St business that felt the full brunt of the crisis last year was Luigi Bros Deli, run by husband and wife duo Nicole Connolly and Scott Chappell.
As the waters rose at an alarming rate that Friday night, Connolly and Chappell couldn’t get in to prepare their shop. It would be a couple of days before they set foot inside again and the recovery was long and hard.
“The flood was really bad, this whole street was under waist-height water,” Ms Connolly told The Mid North Coast News.
“There was heavy rain on the Friday, so we couldn’t access the shop until Sunday, and then the water came back up again on Monday.”
It took the Luigi Bros team months to get through the “big clean up”, with the doors remaining shut for that entire period.
“We were closed for four months, so we’re really grateful that business is this good a year later,” Mr Chappell said.
“The whole area was a write-off this time last year, but we just kept showing up and putting in the work, and we were lucky enough to have the support of our awesome customers when we reopened the doors.
“And it really is the local community we have to thank, since nobody from the local, state or federal governments ever got in contact with us to help.”
“Even still, we’ve survived it all - bushfires, Covid, floods,” he added.
Another business to be impacted by the ferocity of the area’s waterways was Stoney Aqua Park in Telegraph Point.
A favourite of locals and tourists alike, the water park’s inflatable slides, obstacles and swings - together with onsite cabins - were wiped out by the angry Wilson River, a sandstone retaining wall no match for the sheer force of the torrent.
At the time, owner Jason Stone told The Mid North Coast News ‘the amount and force of the water was just incredible”.
Like many across the impacted regions, Mr Stone and his team dug in and rebuilt with a lot of help from the community, eventually reopening in October for a bumper season.
“The help we saw from the community was really humbling,” he said this week.
“We had hundreds of people showing up with buckets, shovels, mops, and whatever else they could to help with the clean up.
“We had a bit of help from the Army and SES too, which was just great.
“We weren’t even asking for help but the response was just incredible.”
The recent flood crisis in northern NSW and across Sydney had Mr Stone “quite nervous” but the region has escaped much of the downpour this year, despite having ‘higher than average’ falls.
Further inland at Kendall, the Camden Haven River also burst its banks in March last year and caused widespread devastation.
The historic building that houses Miss Nellie’s Cafe in the town only just survived being a heap of rubble as the water raged through it.
“Immediately following the flood, our 100-year-old building was a breath away from being demolished - yes, it was that close to being pulled down,” the small business shared on Facebook this week.
“So much work has been going on behind the scenes - bracing, reinforcing, repouring footings - all while battling a pandemic, shortage of materials and labour, wrangling wheelbarrows, engineer plans, tightly managing our budget, and running our temporary alfresco cafe five days a week.”
The cost of the clean-up for Port Macquarie-Hastings, Mid Coast and Kempsey councils was estimated to be more than $110 million with the destruction of so much infrastructure and public spaces.
In the 12 months since the disaster, Port Macquarie-Hastings Council said it had completed work on more 539 of the more than 1000 impacted locations across the region.
Mayor Peta Pinson said the recent flood crisis had caused many to relive the events of 12 months ago and sympathised wtih those in the northern part of the state who are just now starting to pick up the pieces.
“Seeing the devastation of last week’s floods on the North Coast brought up so many emotions for many in our community,” she said.
“While we remember how hard it was, and still is, we aren’t alone.
“Our community stands united with our northern neighbours who have experienced significant grief and devastating loss.
“We won’t forget just how hard it was for us then, and how hard it is for them now.”
More Coverage
‘Got into our groove’: Group 2 big guns get off to a flyer
One frontrunner put on a tryscoring clinic while the defending premiers were given a baptism of fire during round two of Group 2 Rugby League.
Boat theft accused to fight charges
A Clarence Valley man accused of stealing two boats, two motors and a box trailer, and who was allegedly found with a gun and a knife during his arrest, plans to fight the charges.