"We just want to say thank you Taree. We couldn't have done it ourselves."
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Tanya Brown, who owns the Bass'n'Blues Music Megastore in Albert Street, Taree, along with husband Trevor, said the community support to save what they could during the deluge that filled their shop with water over the weekend has meant the world to them.
"The first day (Saturday, March 20) there was at least 50 people there dragging stuff out of the shop as the water came down," she said.
Trevor was at work at 8am on Saturday and with heavy rain falling and water on the rise outside, rang Tanya to let her know they had 18 inches clear of water from the shop entrance.
"Every other big rain event, it has missed us," Tanya said.
"With the forecast, and because it had missed us every other time and we had 18 inches, we thought we would be alright.
Trevor rang her back at 8.45am to say it was down to six inches.
Tanya headed to the shop and took some live videos which she shared on Facebook showing water creeping up at both the back and front doors.
She said they considered putting towels at the back door but in the end it wouldn't have made a difference. "Water started gushing up in the middle of the warehouse. It was seeping in through the walls and floors and out the front you could see it creeping in.
"The drain had so much rain so fast and it was not coping.
"Within 20 minutes it was a foot deep and then before we knew it, it was two feet deep."
Help came in droves, from friends and strangers, all pitching in and working together to move stock and remove damaged stock.
"We needed to get all the unaffected stock out of the way," said Tanya.
"Some stock was covered in mud and water and sludgy boxes.
"We were ankle deep in water and it was teeming with rain as we got them onto a truck."
Tanya said some of their staff live out of town and were unable to come in due to road closures, and their delivery guys with the truck they normally use was also isolated.
"Other trucks were up here and without them we would have been in dire straits."
While this was happening, Tanya was also receiving calls from people asking whether they needed a truck or other assistance. Other people turned up with a delivery of coffee for them or a tray of fruit and juice.
"We're really grateful for the support."
Among the helpers were the business's insurance brokers, Jeremy and Nikki Thornton, who were with them for three hours.
Tanya also said when Mick Eyb arrived, who spent 10 years in the army, he took on looking after logistics, while Matt Zarb was on the phone calling in friends.
At around 12.30pm after they had been going for a solid three hours they ran into more strife.
The gas cylinder leaked and the electrical substation cut so Tanya said they had to leave what was left, not willing to risk anyone getting electrocuted.
Tanya estimates the cost of stock damage to be about $500,000.
The biggest losses have come from amplifiers, digital pianos and acoustic pianos, as well as lots of limited edition stock.
"Some of them maybe 10 were brought into the country and were collector's items.
"With COVID we've lost stock with no way of getting it back."
For all the devastation, it was the support that came from people that was the most heartening.
"Every time we walked outside there was a face we knew. Not just them but them and their kids and their next door neighbour."
Strangers also offered help. In one instance a person with a truck who had been stranded in Taree pulled up and he was there for three days. "There was heaps of that," she said.
Their real estate agents from Schultz came in and got the wet carpet up.
The hope is to get trading again as soon as possible.
Tanya said once the shop is hosed out and dry, everything is going back in and will be sitting on casters so they can be moved around while carpet goes down and the walls are fixed.
On Tuesday they were sorting out the good stock from the ruined and itemising the damage, while also shopping for new cabinets, looking into disaster relief loans and listing the stock they need. "We're doing what we've got to do now to stay afloat."
Keep up to date
Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can access our trusted content:
Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MRTaree
Follow us on Instagram: @manningrivertimes
Follow us on Google News