Hinchinbrook flood disaster: Maddies Hair Bar’s fight for government grants
A popular Ingham hairdresser whose salon was inundated in the flood disaster is battling bureaucracy as she forks out money from her own pocket to keep her business afloat. See the photos.
Townsville
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A popular Ingham hairdresser whose salon was inundated in the flood disaster is battling bureaucracy as she forks money out of her own pocket to keep her business afloat.
Maddie Farmer, owner of Maddies Hair Bar, was left stranded on the roof of her two-storey home in Cordelia after the Herbert River banks rose to dramatic levels in February.
She said the stress of being cut-off for 10 days was compounded by severed electricity and telecommunications networks, including internet connection.
“It wasn’t until I went and stole some internet (from my neighbours) that I saw pictures of just how bad everything was.”
Mrs Farmer, who opened the business in 2019 and employs three additional staff, said floodwaters entered her business through not only the front door on Lannercost St, but also the rear of the property and “up through the floorboards”.
She said she had taken three weeks to undertake the necessary repairs herself and partially reopen the business, and another fortnight to open completely.
“It was hard because I didn’t have any income, like at all, for three weeks and I haven’t got my insurance because I am battling them at the moment.”
Ms Farmer said she had even taken it upon herself to pay $7000 for three replacement hair-wash lounge chairs, crucial to the running of a successful salon.
Asked why she hadn’t just thrown in the towel in the face of such adversity, she said that like many North Queenslanders they were “resilient”.
“I was like, we’ve got to start making money through the business again and I had good clients who were messaging me to get their hair done so I just needed to be able to trade again,” she said.
“I was also freaking out about the girls not having work.”
Ms Farmer, whose business is rated 4.9 starts out of 5 and attracts clientele from Townsville to Mission Beach, said the employees had been able to access limited government wage assistance but she had not applied for any government grants herself.
“There is one that you can apply for, I think it’s $25,000, it might be $50,000 now, but you’ve got to pay for stuff upfront first and then you can get it back, and then you have to send them the outcome of your insurance but I don’t know what is happening with my insurance yet,” she said.
“(The government) needs to know how much my insurance pays out so I am waiting for that to get finalised and if they don’t cover me I will try and claim my chairs back and all the other expenses I’ve paid … it’s like a marathon.”
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Originally published as Hinchinbrook flood disaster: Maddies Hair Bar’s fight for government grants
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