Resort owner Steve Shipp should be preparing for a busy Melbourne Cup weekend and summer ahead.
Key points:
- Tourism businesses in Moama have been forced to turn guests away as floodwaters approach
- Many are busy sandbagging their businesses
- Businesses are calling for more support from the state government to deal with the impacts of prolonged flooding
But, instead, he has spent this week frantically sandbagging his Moama business as floodwaters at heights not seen in nearly 30 years make their way down the Murray River towards his town.
"I'm feeling very apprehensive, " Mr Shipp said.
"[There is] uncertainty about what's going to happen, how we're going to be impacted. You sort of start to second-guess yourself."
Moama, on the New South Wales-Victorian border, is heavily reliant on tourist dollars, with a number of caravan parks, houseboat and water sports businesses selling a small piece of the Murray River to guests from far and wide.
The outlook for these businesses is uncertain, with floodwaters expected to soon reach above 1993 levels.
With sodden catchments, full dams and continuous rainfall, water levels are expected to remain high for quite some time and coming off the back of COVID-19, it's a blow many local businesses don't need.
Mr Shipp has had to cancel numerous bookings already and is giving out refunds to those who cannot get to the town.
"We've dropped tens of thousands from this week alone, and if the water level is up for three to four weeks, which it could be, it's going to have a huge impact," he said.
"Tourism is the lifeblood of Echuca-Moama.
"We're the closest spot to Melbourne for the Murray. We've got so many people that holiday here."
Another setback
Floodwaters have isolated the Mayor of Murray River Council, Chris Bilkey's property, forcing him to travel by boat to get to shops and work.
He said having another setback when the town was still recovering from COVID-19 was "devastating".
"Tourism is a huge part of our economy," Cr Bilkey said.
"It seems to be one hit after another, and we'll take a breath after this one and just go on.
"Floods and droughts, they're all part of the Australian way of life and being built on such a flat part of the country with a big river running through it, we're prone to these events from time to time."
Mr Shipp said it was crucial for businesses to get through this flooding event quickly to prevent too much financial loss.
"We've got to get any recovery we can done prior to the Christmas rush, and that's going to be the same for all the tourism operators in town here."
Calls for more support
Local state MP Helen Dalton is calling for immediate assistance from the state government to help the entire community on the Murray impacted by flooding to recover.
"A lot of funding happens after the event," Ms Dalton said.
"But many are anxious and want more resources so they can be more prepared for the flooding."
Ms Dalton said she was yet to hear a clear message about when funding might be made available.
"I'm not even sure about the status of that," she said.
"I'm hearing different messages, so the communication coming from the state government is not coming."
Mr Shipp said the country's entire eastern seaboard had been devastated by flooding this year, and all levels of government should come together to provide additional support.
"We've heard a lot from Dan Andrews, what he's doing on the Victorian government side. We're not hearing much from the NSW government and what they're going to do to assist us," he said.
"So I think the NSW government need to step up and get some people down here on the ground and really think about what they can do to assist Moama, Barham, Barmah, and all these other places that are going to be impacted.
"They didn't really help us much during COVID, so I think it's time they stood up to the plate."
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