Ravaging floods impact businesses

NATIONAL NEW SOUTH WALES| QUEENSLAND

In late February-early March, small businesses were affected by unprecedented and devastating heavy rain across northern New South Wales and Queensland.

Flooding is one of the largest expenses to businesses, resulting in lost productivity, reduced working hours and losses with resources targeted to recovery efforts.

Small businesses not only suffered immediate damage, but also had to manage the prospect of power outages, transport restrictions, loss of customers and/or key staff and disrupted communications. Flooding caused significant and sustained disruption to many areas, impacting the continuity of many business operations. This natural disaster affected small businesses and workers, once again facing great uncertainty with business costs and employee financial hardships. It can take months for business recovery to occur in these floodimpacted areas.

Hundreds of thousands evacuated in NSW

On 3 March, more than half a million people in New South Wales were subject to SES issued evacuation orders or warnings. Heavy rain and floodwater caused the Hawkesbury River at North Richmond Bridge to breach its banks and cut many roads. NSW experienced unprecedented rain bomb events sustained over several days which led to “dangerous and life-threatening” flooding. Helicopters were engaged to drop off food and supplies to evacuation centres.

Torrential rain and flash flooding were also experienced in Newcastle, Hunter, and suburbs such as Shanes Park, Mulgrave, Holsworthy, Londonderry, Vineyard, Picnic Point, East Hills, and South Maroota. People in parts of

AVAILABLE TO ORDER NOW

through your preferred wholesaler. Contact your Pernod Ricard Account Manager or phone Customer Service 1300 363 153

NATIONAL NEW SOUTH WALES | QUEENSLAND

Killarney Vale, NSW, Australia – March 22, 2021: State Emergency Service (SES) respond to a flooding event in residential street of Killarney Vale on the Central Coast of NSW, Australia. Photo Adam Marshal Shutterstock

Windsor and surrounding villages including Pitt Town and Richmond lowlands were instructed to evacuate as the Hawkesbury-Nepean River system was hit by the deluge. Southwest of the city people in parts of Georges Hall, Chipping Norton, Lansvale, Milperra, Moorebank, Warwick Farm, as well as parts of Camden were ordered to leave.

Dangerous storms smashed Southeast Queensland

During the first weeks in March dangerous storm cells shook Queensland resulting in the state embarking upon a mammoth flood clean-up operation. The Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) issued warnings for “giant hailstones”, intense rainfall and damaging winds as storms hit Ipswich and Brisbane.

Brisbane, Gold Coast, Toowoomba, Sunshine Coast, and the Scenic Rim were placed on alert, with these areas experiencing sustained wild weather. Southeast Queensland had its highest rainfall on record, with some parts recording 1000mms of rain over just a few days. Significant storms lashed Beerwah and Landsborough areas, with roads saturated and a number of trees uprooted, and fallen powerlines leaving several properties are without power. Giant hail up to six centimetres in size pelted down in the rural town of Dalby, north-west of Brisbane, with wind gusts of 93km/h recorded. Garbage and debris were seen floating down the streets of the Brisbane suburb of Auchenflower, with residents in disbelief over the disaster.

Shelves run bare

At his small store in Mount Isa, almost 2,000km from the flood zones, grocer Joe da Silva struggled to fill his shelves. His fresh produce was gone. Stocks of other basics dwindled, with uncertainty about when the next truck would arrive. Da Silva, who runs Mount Isa’s Foodworks, was far from the hardest hit by the crippling grocery shortages that followed the rising waters across south-east Queensland and northern New South Wales.

Da Silva’s situation was an indication of how devastating the floods had been to the state’s supply chains. It also showed the fragility of a system still deeply reliant on key transport links to the south-east. “It’s difficult because we are so isolated from everything … so the moment that there are floods, or fires, or any disaster occurs on the coast, we are the first ones who feel it up here,” he said. These shortages continued to be most dire in towns and suburbs directly affected by the floods. Evacuees faced acute challenges to obtain food. As floods continued to ravage the east coast, critical supply lines into northern NSW and throughout Queensland were impacted by road closures, limiting how quickly food and groceries could be delivered into flood-affected regions.

Given the severe stock shortages for fresh and dry groceries, many food and grocery stores introduced twopack purchase limits for customers in affected regions, including fresh milk, meat and medicine, and one-pack limits on toilet paper and still water.

In Lismore, police coordinated a helicopter food drop from Casino to about three hundred flood evacuees sheltering at a church in Coraki. The City of Lismore and many surrounding towns, such Coraki, were completely submerged destroying homes, shopping centres and infrastructure. Lismore was completely submerged with seven food and grocery stores under water.

The floods cut off Australia’s busiest highway, the Pacific Highway, and left trucks stranded, with all local freight ceasing until the waters receded. The problem was compounded by the