The owners of a gym that was overrun by floodwaters say they will “stop crying and rebuild” the well-attended business.
Jill Bingham and her husband Warren White were cleaning mud off the walls of Jetts Gym in Nambour on Tuesday, after it was inundated in the early hours of Monday morning.
The town received 365mm of rain as ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred made its presence felt.
“We checked our cameras on Sunday night before bed and everything was fine,” Ms Bingham said.
“There were people in the gym training and there was just a little bit of rain.
“But, at 4am, we had the security system tell us the power was out and then our members started to message us and send us photos of the water.
“We came down to the gym but there was nothing we could do: floodwaters had come in the front and the back.
“We opened the front door and water just poured out. We were beside ourselves.
“Even sandbags wouldn’t have helped.”
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She said the water reached 50cm inside.
“We’ve got marks all around the gym showing where it has gone right up.
“The mud that has come through has done a lot of damage.
“The cardio equipment is done, the flooring is done, the walls are wrecked and we’ve lost other equipment like computers.”
The gym was one of several stores and streets in the town’s heart to be swamped by ex-TC Alfred.
Ms Bingham said the Supercheap Auto shop “had the same amount of water we had” and the Ray White Real Estate office “is wrecked too”.
She and her husband had owned Jetts gyms at Peregian Springs and Coolum Beach before taking on the Nambour business four years ago, bolstering its membership from about 300 to more than 700.
“We did a total refurb with new machines, so everything was still quite new,” Ms Bingham said.
“We were very proud of our gym and it looked amazing.”
The damage was a bitter blow for the duo, who do not have flood insurance.
“We couldn’t afford it. It was going to be about 90 grand,” she said.
But Ms Bingham said they were determined to revive the gym.
“We love this place. We’ll stop crying and we’ll rebuild it,” she said.
“This is our baby: we’ll get it back.
“We’ll be begging and borrowing as much as we can to get as much help as we can. We’re going to have to dig deep.”
A GoFundMe campaign, launched by Bek Brodie, to get the business back on its feet has already raised more than $4300.
“Jill and Warren have always been the first to step up for others, having raised over $100,000 for local charities throughout their years in the industry. Now, it’s our turn to support them,” she said.
Ms Bingham hoped they could open the gym’s doors within a month.
“That’s our plan, even if we must rent some cardio equipment to get us running again. We’ll do whatever we can,” she said.
In the meantime, she said their “great members” could exercise at any of the other 12 Jetts outlets on the Sunshine Coast.
“But we will also give them an option where they don’t have to pay anything.”
Home and business owners around the Sunshine Coast were this week mopping up the mess caused by ex-TC Alfred.
Sunshine Coast mayor Rosanna Natoli said the region was now “fortunate to be through the worst of the severe weather”. She said agencies were now moving to recovery efforts to help people, businesses and facilities.
“There is still some minor flooding so if you do come across a flooded road, do not attempt to cross.”
Several people required rescuing on Monday.
Council’s places of refuge have closed while council’s tips are open and free until Sunday. Other council services have resumed.
Cr Natoli said residents who collected sandbags from SES locations could put them to good use.
“Please use the sand to top dress your lawn, then place the bag in your general waste bin or keep it handy for future use,” she said. They can also be taken to disposal locations around the region, until March 14.
Related story: ‘The biggest flood they’ve seen in 30 years’
Meanwhile, deputy mayor Maria Suarez said erosion had caused “beach scarring”.
“The beaches will eventually repair themselves, however this could take some time. We ask the community to stay off the dunes,” she said.
“Our teams are (also) checking roads across the region.”
Most local services, including schools and supermarkets, have resumed operations.
“Our staff are working with chambers of commerce, industry associations and individual businesses to understand the impacts,” Cr Suarez said.
