Gordon Austin’s smash repair business was the first to be hit by the wave of water he said had “dammed up” against the side of the railway track in Denison St, before smashing down into businesses in its path.

“It dammed up on the side of the railway track and washed the bank away,” Mr Austin said.

“Damage would be in its thousands. We’ve lost three computers and our cars are damaged.

“We’ve had 12 cars that were in here when it

happened. Our NRMA car got damaged too.”

Mr Austin has owned the Denison St workshop for more than 30 years and said this was the worst water damage he’d ever had. Floodwaters up to a metre entered the building during the freak storm, damaging offices and furniture.

“It’s the worst we’ve had and I’ve been here since 1974,” he said.

“I was at Calala at the time but a tow truck driver who called in to get a jack couldn’t open the door because the water was so high.

“It (the water) just picked everything up, it picked up a fridge and threw it onto a vehicle.

“This will take weeks to clean up.”