THE IMPACTS of last year’s Boxing Day deluge are still being felt in Welshpool.
Eddie Fowler of Welshpool Outdoors has given up pursuing an insurance claim, having not been covered for flooding, while Welshpool Hotel owner Skye Dubignon still has a couple of accommodation rooms out of action and has had no success with her claim thus far.
Having only opened five weeks before the storm event, following a couple of months preparation, Skye is unable to afford replacement carpet.
“We’re trading as best we can,” she said, pleased to be operating, but noting that her hands are currently tied when it comes to updating or fixing things.
Seven of the nine accommodation rooms are in use, albeit it without carpet.
“Two rooms have still got damage that needs repairing,” Skye said.
She stressed there is considerable wood damage to the premises with water causing swelling, adding it is a matter of time before that timber will have to be ripped out and replaced at substantial cost.
“If I was to walk away, then the pub’s closed again and that is the heart of the town,” Skye said, stressing the issue needs to be resolved for her and any other business operators still chasing up insurance.
“It just needs to be fixed for all of us; everyone works their hardest and we all pay good money for insurance,” she said.
While acknowledging the ferocity of the Boxing Day downpour, which she said dumped about 140mm of rain in just a few hours, Skye expressed concern about the ability of drains to cope and another issue she believes exacerbated the situation.
“The rail trail being built up has stopped the water flowing away,” she said.
Eddie acknowledges he should have been more diligent in reading the fine print regarding his insurance coverage but said that with Welshpool not classified as being in a flood zone “It never entered our minds.”
“It’s not just us, it’s the pub, the community group Bendigo Bank building and the Op shop; none of us had flood insurance and there are other people too that had part flood insurance, so it’s been a real catastrophe for the whole town,” Eddie said.
He explained that if the water had come in through the roof, he could have lodged a successful claim for storm damage but that didn’t apply to water entering from the street.
Eddie is concerned that Shady Creek presents an ongoing risk, with rubbish having backed up under the old railway bridge during the storm event, causing water to flow back with ferocity.
“Unless Gippsland Catchment Management Authority do something about cleaning the creek and eliminating the bottleneck at the old railway bridge, we could very well see the same scenario again,” Eddie said.
“So, no criticism of anyone, it’s just a matter of circumstances.”
He believes some form of flood wall may be needed to divert water in future.
Eddie praised the South Gippsland Shire Council, saying they have done a lot to help, and commented they were again busy attending to drains recently.
“That will be an ongoing challenge to the shire to try and keep that level of maintenance up,” he said.
In the immediate aftermath of the storm, CFA members took to the street to help with the cleaning operation and the police ensured safety, with council soon providing bins for rubbish removal.
Eddie acknowledged it’s not all about Welshpool, with council needing to focus on other towns too.
“But we really copped it,” he said, adding it will take Welshpool Outdoors a long time to get over the setback, but that it wasn’t the hardest hit business in town financially.
