'Everyone's pretty down' in Esk Valley: Some residents realise they probably can't rebuild their flood-ruined homes
Tuesday, 21 February 2023
Many people in Esk Valley, hard hit by flooding last week, are aware they may not be able to rebuild, a local restaurant operator says.
It was devastating to see people coming back to their homes, Greg Miller, who runs the Valley d'Vine Restaurant on the Linden Estate Vineyard in the Esk Valley, told Breakfast on Tuesday.
“There was a lot of hugs and that sort of stuff going on, but everyone’s pretty down,” Miller said. “I think we’ll pick ourselves back up and move on, but they all know the reality is: Can they build again? Probably not.”
He was “hanging in there just… It’s been a tough seven days,” Miller said.
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“We’ve been here mucking in for four days now, and it looks like we’ve done nothing,” he said. “You don’t know where to start.”
He had stayed awake through the night of the flooding.
“About 1.30 in the morning it got real crazy … The next two hours we just watched it all unfold,” Miller said.
“I was watching caravans floating, houses moving, just mayhem.” One house had floated about 600m.
During the flood about 22 people had been taken to a piece of high land where he was, after being rescued.
“A guy called Rikki Kihi, he’s a local, he was the first person in the water on the jet boat,” Miller said. He had probably saved more than 50 people.
At one place that was “absolutely hammered” people had smashed through into the roof.
“They smashed through the roof, got their heads in the cavity, and managed to get saved by this guy in a jet boat an hour and a half before the next jet boats came in.”
Miller said he was luckier than many because he leased the restaurant.
“It’s wedding season. So, it’s trying to find a venue, trying to keep the brides from not panicking too much.” He was meant to have two weddings this weekend and another next weekend.
A lack of basic services was part of the problem. He didn’t know when the power would be back on, and it was hard to clean without water, he said.
Without access to the internet, he was unaware of relief packages being provided by the Government, Miller said.
“We only just managed to basically get out to the main road yesterday with our utes and that, because we were still blocked in with all the water.”
An important part of the recovery of his business was trying to ensure his staff stayed with him. He was paying their wages, and thinking of things he could do to tempt them to stay on.
“Trying to replace your staff, you can’t, in today’s world there are no staff.”