Owners of some flood-damaged Tauranga businesses spent their weekend cleaning up the mess and at least one business will be out of action for the rest of the week.
Owners of some flood-damaged Tauranga businesses spent their weekend cleaning up the mess and at least one business will be out of action for the rest of the week.
Another business owner says he may not be fully operational again for one-to-two weeks.
Janine and Matt Cooney, who own TrenchIt in Oak Lane, said there were due to reopen todayafter a holiday break, but instead would have days of clean-up ahead.
"Our workshop was knee-deep in water on Friday, our office was also completely flooded and everything was saturated," they said.
The couple, who export machinery overseas, had a lot of stock out on the workshop floor and spent the whole weekend cleaning up and trying to establish what was salvageable.
"Our insurers have told us we will probably be out of action until the end of this week as all our machinery needs to be stripped down, checked and commercially cleaned.
"Because of all the silt that came through the workshop and the sewerage contamination the whole place will also need to be professionally cleaned and sanitised," Mr Cooney said.
Trench It co-owner Janine Cooney inside her and her husband's flood damaged business. Photo/Andrew Warner
The Cooneys had new carpet laid in their office just three weeks ago, and another major loss was their $15,000 forklift which was now "kaput".
"Fortunately we are insured but it's a huge pain in the arse," Mr Cooney said.
Tga Box gym owner Chris Walker said he hoped to be fully operational today after half a metre of estuary water swamped his bottom gym in Judea on Friday morning.
Walker said the water poured up through the outside drain and three large pumps were used to pump it out again on Friday night.
When the Bay of Plenty Times visited on Saturday, commercial cleaners were steam cleaning the gym and Walker expected them to be on site for at least two days.
The flooding caused thousands of dollars worth of damage, but the true cost would not be known until the cleaning was completed and assessed by his insurer, he said.
"We have already filled one skip bin with saturated and damaged items, including a fridge, couch, a TV, stereo and number of boxing gloves, and we'll probably fill another one too.
Staff at Tga Box standing in the flooded bottom gym. Photo/Chris Walker.
"Salt water got into everything and we are not sure whether our sound system and the electrics inside some of the gym equipment is stuffed," Ward said.
Aaron Sheely from Trendz Homes, also cleaning up over the weekend, said he estimated there was up to $5000 worth of damage but the final bill could be far more.
That included having to replace power tools and building materials, he said.
"We'll have to put makeshift arrangements in place so we can open the doors today and we may not be fully operational for one to two weeks," he said.
Harbourside Restaurant was back in action on Saturday morning after the owners had to close the doors as seawater poured inside.
Harbourside Restaurant co-owner Peter Ward relieved the damage was not worse. Photo/Andrew Warner
Co-owner Peter Ward said he and wife Anita, their staff and some volunteers spent until about 8pm on Friday mopping the flooded restaurant.
"Thanks to commercial driers and dehumidifiers we managed to get the restaurant in order to open for lunch and dinner with 110 diners booked in on Saturday, he said.
Ward said apart from clearing away a few logs and other debris, fortunately there was no damage to the underfloor plumbing system which he had feared.
He estimated the clean-up bill, extra wages and lost business would be more than $12,000.
"We want to say a huge thanks for all the offers of help we received from regular customers and nearby residents, some who pitched in to help us with the cleanup."
The Insurance Council was advising people affected by the recent heavy rain and flooding to contact their insurer as soon as possible to lodge claims.
