The sight that greeted the Phoenix staff on Tuesday morning was a sorry one indeed. As storms and heavy rains swept across Canowindra and the surrounding areas, a blocked drain in Gaskill Street overflowed and caused
quite a lot of damage. The excess water from the rain and hail storm rose several inches above the footpath and flooded multiple buildings in the main street.
In some cases, hail blocked the gutters and water flooded in through other parts of the building. So far, Bill Paul’s Carpets appears to be the worst affected with an early estimation of $25,000-$30,000 damage. While this is not the first time the historic building has flooded, it is probably the worst. “We had three inches of water coming through the front door,” said Bill Paul. “We tried to use a carpet cushion to soak up the water coming in, but by that time the damage was already done.” “There’s nothing we could do because
there’s no notice for floods like that; I don’t think the drains can handle it.”
In the face of the loss and a big clean up, Bill is staying positive. “We’ll get over it, like we do with everything else. We’ll see what we can do and go from there.” Jenny Cullane was glad she was close by when the water started flooding the back of Virginia Cullane Books. In full damage control, Jenny said “if I hadn’t been here, it would’ve been a lot worse.”