Koichi and Naomi Sato run a small Japanese restaurant in Port Macquarie, and are standing in what remains of their once prosperous business.
“So much still to do, so much,” says 68-year-old Koichi walking past upturned cabinets and cookware.
“We have lost almost everything: Fridges, freezer, tables and chairs, cabinets, dishes, food, everything.”
Naomi agrees: “We had one metre of water here. When I opened the door everything was upside down. We had to throw everything out.”
Without a working kitchen they cannot serve food at all, which also means no income.
Koichi Sato shows the height of the food water. Source: SBS
“We have already spent $30,000, perhaps more than that. Maybe, $40,000.”
The couple originally from Japan moved to Port Macquarie 20 years ago and have run the Sushiko restaurant since. This is not the first flood to inundate their Short Street venue, but it is the most destructive.
While $50,000 business recovery grants are on offer the couple is yet to receive funding.
"We try to [apply]. We don't know how much we can get or not," Koichi says.
They are working towards re-starting the business as soon as possible.
“So many people are waiting for us to reopen: ‘Hurry up, open, hurry up’ that kind of thing. I'm very sad about it,” Koichi says.
Recent Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) data shows record rain fell in March along the NSW mid-north coast, with almost 82,000 gigalitres falling in a single week. That’s around 160 Sydney Harbours worth of water.
“The rainfall average across the NSW coast was the wettest week on record for 120 years, since records began back in 1900,” says the BOM’s Dean Narramore.
The highest daily rainfall recorded was 405.5mm on March 20 at Kendall, near Port Macquarie.
“It caused a lot more damage than we anticipated,” says Mike Nalder from Mike’s Tax and Accounting whose accountancy business was inundated.
“You could never prepare for what was coming.”
While some paper files were soaked he says computer systems are being restored with no loss of data.
Port Macquarie accountant Mike Nalder. Source: SBS
“The things that were under the desks were not okay. But most of our electronics survived. My computer took a swim because I only had it a foot off the ground.”
However, like many impacted business owners, Mike is using his own funds for repairs and was not insured for flood damage.
“If you can get it, then you're talking phenomenal premiums. We’ve been seven years here without a flood event. So, I figure I probably would have paid for the damage a couple of times over with the phenomenal sort of premiums they would have been charging.”
Maryline Green runs Gourmand Ingredients and, while her business was undamaged, like many she has lost income.
“Some of our clients have been devastated. One woman was flooded literally up to her chin in the house. And to make matters worse, when the water receded, she was looted twice.”
Community support helped owner-operators to keep going, she says.
“We were saved by a kind of cavalry, like in the old Western movies.
Maryline Green says community support is key. Source: SBS
“We had about 15 people in their boots with brushes and mops and they emptied all the bottom shelves and put everything into the bin.”
“It was very humbling for us. It's extraordinarily humbling.”
Ms Green says while some owner-operators might be tempted to close up shop, there are good reasons to keep going.
“The blood and life of a bit of a town is a small business. This is, if you don't support the small business, there is no job for the young people.”
