Midlands business welcome weary travellers

Pubs and hospitality doors have welcomed an unexpected flurry of guests after roads closed through middle of the state, stranding travellers and forcing them to spend the night.

• 100+ SNOW DAY PHOTOS: All the winter wonderland shots
• FULL LIST: Road closures, trees on road and motor vehicle accidents
• POWER OUT: 13640 homes blacked out, severe wind warnings

HOSPITALITY businesses have received an unexpected flurry of customers as roads closed and travellers became stranded across the state.

In the Midlands businesses threw open their doors to try to accommodate people who had been caught in Tuesday night’s wild weather.

Despite his chef being on holiday, Tom Hubbard, the general manager of the Man O’Ross Hotel, fed about 20 people who had sought shelter in the town when the Midland Highway was blocked.

Adelle Salter, Yasmine Cumming, Olivia Leon were travelling back from Launceston but got stuck near the town of Ross when heavy snow set in.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, he’s been forced to reduce his staff numbers and close on Mondays and Tuesdays, but when he heard people were in need, he wanted to help.

“I’m no chef but I was happy to cook up some fish and chips for anyone who needed it,” he said.

“Being from a small town I’m happy to do as much as I can.”

Mr Hubbard said the snow was still falling at about 8pm on Tuesday and that it had “hit two feet” at St Peters Pass.

Nineteen-year-old Yasmine Cumming was one of the grateful recipients of Mr Hubbard’s hospitality. She spent the night at the Ross Motel after she and her two friends were stranded on the Midland Highway.

The three women were returning from a nursing course in Launceston.

“We left Launceston at 3.30pm and we drove past St Peters Pass and it was so beautiful that we stopped to play in the snow,” she said.

“We only stopped for five minutes and we thought we should leave as it was starting to get dark.

“If we hadn’t of stopped, we’d have made it and we knew we’d messed up.”

Ms Cumming said she and her friends felt very lucky the pub had opened up to help people out.

“It’s so good how people can come together and times like these,” she said.

The Ross Motel was still trying to sort out beds for travellers late on Tuesday and Peter Fost said he’d had to turn people away as there was just no room.

“They’ll probably have to sleep in their cars,” he said.

The Oatlands RSL opened its doors to help people and on the East Coast as people were turned back Orford accommodation quickly filled up.