Next stop, Lorne: call to support local businesses
Local business owner Becky McIntosh has implored the Surf Coast community to “explore your backyard”, to help Lorne and surrounds recover from a challenging summer of severe weather.
Six weeks on from the Great Ocean Road flash flood, Lorne’s Riverbank Café has a steady stream of customers. Owner Becky takes a seat in a cosy corner, her coffee cup aptly half-full.
Describing herself as “forever the optimist, forever the positive person”, she offers glimpses to silver linings despite farewelling her most difficult summer as a business owner.
“I do smile and feel a bit smug to know that I get to live here year-round, in a place that thousands of people choose to vacation,” she said.
“I’ve been thinking, that you never really explore your own backyard.
“When the flood happened, I asked myself when was the last time that I went to Wye River? And how often do people in Torquay or Geelong come to Lorne?
“Explore your backyard, because you’ve got a beautiful one.
“If you do have a weekend away or a trip, does it have to be outside our region or interstate? Could you support local?”
And the cooler months shouldn’t deter you, Becky believes.
“There's no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing.
“Come down and put on your waterproofs because when it's raining, that's when the waterfalls are majestic.
“We want people to come, and we love the energy of tourists.”
The big impact on a small business
“Two to three days after the flood, it was a bit of a ghost town. There were still people around but to be a Saturday in January and for us to only make 300 coffees is unheard of. At peak, a good day is between 900 and 1,200 coffees.”
This summer marked Becky’s fourth at the helm of Riverbank Café, which sits on Mountjoy Parade beside Erskine River, a short stroll from the heart of town.
“We were projecting this summer to be the biggest yet,” she said. “I was so excited, thinking how we can be better and do more.”
But the timing of the flood – plus catastrophic and extreme fire danger days in the weeks before and after – put a stop to those plans.
Businesses in Lorne have reported serious economic impacts from the overlapping emergency events during January.
Council’s Economic Development team has surveyed 68 businesses in Lorne, with 31 per cent saying they had lost the equivalent of a month of income, and a further 47 per cent reporting loss of at least a week’s income.
This feedback was consistent across retail, accommodation, hospitality and tourism-based businesses.
“Being a seasonal town, that busy period in summer, you bank on it,” Becky said.
“We have these insane, hard-working six weeks with an unfathomable amount of coffees and toasties, so it can support us for the rest of the year.”
“It was – and still is – incredibly stressful because you can't live day-by-day when you're a business owner.
“To have such a loss in your peak season, we all know it's going to affect us for the remainder of this year.”
Council’s survey data supports advocacy on behalf of local businesses and will enable Council to work with partners on a recovery program aimed at encouraging people back to Lorne.
“It was completely and utterly out of my control and it was just heartbreaking to observe.”
It’s part of Becky’s daily morning routine to check the weather. On Thursday 15 January, she saw a storm was due in the afternoon.
“When the rain had started, an employee showed me a video of Cumberland River, that had already broken its banks. I thought 'well that's a bit scary'.
“The rain was only drizzling in Lorne but then we lost power, and there was an ominous feeling in the air of what exactly was going to happen.”
Staff were sent home to hunker down, while Becky stayed to do the dishes.
With her optimistic hat on, she decided to lay towels at the base of one of the café’s street-facing doors as water began to trickle in.
“I thought I'd finish my dishes and go home but then I could just hear the gushing of the river and the rain,” she said.
“Water started to come up near the boom gate of the caravan park next door. I kept thinking ‘surely not, it's not going to come in here’.
“But it did, in a flash. I now understand why they call it flash flooding.”
“I have a timestamp of optimistic me trying to keep the water out when the trickle was coming through (left photo), to when the entire café was inundated (right photo). It was literally three minutes.”
Community bands together
Becky first ventured to Lorne 14 years ago as a Scottish backpacker.
“I just fell in love with Lorne and I'm still falling in love with Lorne every day,” she says, before reflecting on how the town came together in the moments after the flood.
“The water rose, then as it started to go down, it was all hands on deck. Everyone was sweeping and strangers were saying 'give me a bucket'.”
The team clean-up effort extended to the courtyard area in front of the retail strip and nearby restaurant Pizza Pizza, which was also impacted.
“I want to mention the support of other local businesses,” Becky said. “People personally messaged me and seven other business owners reached out to find out how they could help.
“The Riverbank is an extension of me. It’s my livelihood. It supports me and my family.
“I’ve seen such a beautiful display of community and camaraderie.”