Making progress: Karz Coffee Shop Cafe owner Stephen Murphy cleans the floor of the shop after workers from T and M Plumbing pressure-washed the mud from the floor.
Photo by
Megan Fisher
Mooroopna businesses were hit hard in the floods, with many of the main street’s shops inundated with water.
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A group of four shops along McLennan St also had the added heartbreak of shop windows being smashed after the floodwater went through.
As the clean-up started, however, the community spirit shone through, as shopkeepers, their families and friends, customers and even strangers pitched in to help.
Karz Coffee Shop Cafe was among those to have water through it, with owner Stephen Murphy estimating about 15cm flooded the shop.
He will need to buy three new freezers and a new motor for the salad bar after the water short-circuited all the motors.
Mr Murphy said he would also need to keep an eye on his wooden cupboards, as they might bow and bend and need replacing as well.
With nearly all brick walls in the shop, meaning plaster would not need to be removed, he considered himself one of the luckier ones.
“There’s been people worse off than me,” he said.
Strong team: Peter, 7, Katerina and Stavros Kontakos, 4, with Ruby Atkinson, 8, sweep water out of Peter’s Fish Shop in Mooroopna.
Photo by
Megan Fisher
On Thursday, a group of workers from T and M Plumbing came through with a Gerni high-pressure cleaner and cleaned the hard caked mud off the floor for free.
Mr Murphy’s was not the only business they helped, with several others on the receiving end of the pressure cleaner.
At Peter’s Fish Shop, owner George Kontakos had family members and customers helping clean his shop of flood water on Thursday.
Living in Shepparton, he had not been able to get across the causeway to Mooroopna to inspect the damage until then.
“It’s pretty bad,” Mr Kontakos said.
“We lost heaps of frozen stuff.”
Extra push: Volunteer Sue-Ellen Russell helping clean Peter’s Fish and Chip shop in Mooroopna.
Photo by
Megan Fisher
A neighbouring shop owner had sent him photos and videos of the area after the flood, but Mr Kontakos said it had been hard being stuck on the other side of the river and not knowing the internal damage.
He was full of praise for the people of Mooroopna after he put up a Facebook post asking for help to clean up.
“I had many people reaching out,” he said.
“Mooroopna is a close-knit community full of good people.
Merritt Funeral Services in MacIsaac Rd was completely flooded, with the owners estimating water reached about 30cm high through the building.
Recovery effort: Merritt Funeral Services owners Jody and Garry Merritt with a pile of cupboards that had to be ripped from their MacIsaac Rd business.
Photo by
Megan Fisher
Owners Jody and Garry Merritt could only watch the CCTV camera footage live from their home as the flood water steadily rose through their business.
Both described the flood as “devastating”, with water across about 600 square metres of carpeted area.
The thing they were most worried about was the power going out, as they had bodies in their coolroom awaiting burials.
Thankfully the power remained on the entire time.
The first time he checked on the business, Mr Merritt walked through floodwater that was chest high to see how the building had fared and if the power was still on.
The couple and an army of volunteers got to work as soon as it was dry enough to get in, with all hands on deck.
Members of the Murchison Football Club and Toolamba Fishing Club joined with friends of the couple as they cut the carpet into strips and dragged it out, and removed all the cupboards.
Damaging: Flood water inside the the chapel at Merritt Funeral Services in MacIssac Rd, Mooroopna.
Strangers also helped.
“It was amazing the people that came,” Mrs Merritt said.
Although the business has been badly affected by the flood water, Mr Merritt said they would continue to operate.
“We can’t close, because people keep dying,” he said.
Inundated: The flood water in the reception area at Merritt Funeral Services in MacIssac Rd, Mooroopna.
While the chapel at Merritt Funeral Services will be out of action for at least a month, Mr Merritt said church services would still be able to be held.
The issue they face now is with burials, as many of the region’s cemeteries are waterlogged.
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