'Never seen before' flooding inundates shops in south-west town

Heywood Laundry Service owner Raelene Alexander said the floodwater took her completely by surprise around 4pm on Sunday.

"It came up very quickly with lots of heavy rain," Ms Alexander said.

"The whole street in front of the laundry was suddenly flooded and it started coming in the front door.

"But at the same time it also started flowing through the back. It seemed to come up so quickly that nothing could cope."

Fortunately there was nobody in the launderette at the time.

"I had to close the place straight away," Ms Alexander said.

"There was some washing in one of the machines which I had to get out and pass to the customer through the door."

Ms Alexander said she had been stunned with the speed of the floodwaters rising.

"I've never seen anything like it before," she said.

"Up at the corner it was up to the SES guy's thigh, down where the fish and chip shop is."

Bondy's Pizza and Fish and Chips was inundated from above and below with floodwaters gushing through the door and pouring down from the ceiling.

Owner Kerry Stuchbery said she was also taken by surprise.

"When the rain really started falling we had a waterfall coming through roof and down the front window," Ms Stuchbery said.

"We called the SES thinking this waterfall was the only problem when my daughter pointed out the front in the street where all the gutters and drains were blocked up.

"It wouldn't even have taken a minute and suddenly the water was lapping at the door.

"My daughter had a broom trying to sweep the water out and she's laughing at me spreading a bunch of tea towels down as if that would make a difference."

But perhaps the worst affected business on the strip was Heywood Horse and Country, which is closed on Sundays, so wasn't occupied when the deluge came.

Employee Colleen Budija said the first anyone at the business knew about the flooding was a phone call to say water was flowing into the shop.

"We had about a foot of water through the whole shop," Ms Budija said.

"There's a lot of lost stock, everything is drenched. We had to get a heap of stuff off the floor and save as much as possible but we've lost a lot of stock."

Ms Budija said a blocked drain in the street had caused the flooding. She said the business was still counting the cost and going through the long process of cleaning up.

"There's been lots of brooms. We're getting a guy in to steam clean tomorrow, there's still mud and dirt everywhere," she said.

"The SES and fire brigade were straight on the scene and did an amazing job when it all happened."

Ms Stuchbery said as soon as SES personnel managed to clear the drain the floodwaters subsided as quickly as they'd risen.

"It only took a couple of minutes to get rid of it all once they unblocked the drain," she said.

"It really was incredible though. My dad turned up - he's 78 and has lived in Heywood all his life - and he said he'd never seen anything like it.

"We've got three exits from the shop and you couldn't get out of any of them. It was knee deep."

She said there had been some minor ceiling and roof damage but nothing that would stop Bondy's opening on Tuesday.

"We're surprisingly alright, once we clean up the front, so not seriously affected. The window might need fixing with all the water that came down it. But it was sheer dumb luck, really."

Ms Alexander said she and a crew of others had managed to clean most of the launderette.

"We're back open now. It's just a matter of trying to dry the floor behind the machines properly," she said.

"It looks like things are back to normal with a bit of water damage here and there.

"It's just amazing how quickly it came. It was just so sudden."