Lismore residents plead for help after floods turn town into 'war zone'

Lismore locals are pleading for help a week after devastating floods first hit their community and left the region resembling a war zone.

Following the town's catastrophic destruction, locals have been tasked with starting the monumental rebuild.

Lismore's CBD buildings have been left damaged by floodwaters and now business owners have been left wondering how they'll recover with businesses, homes, lives and livelihoods lost.

READ MORE: Floodwater engulfs man's newly built mansion two weeks before he was able to move in

Lismore Mayor Steve Kreig lost his home and business in the floods and while he was only elected 11 weeks ago, he's now leading the town through its toughest test.

"Since 2017, we were just rebuilding. We had all of our CBD shops full, things were really starting to come along and then this hits you and … you feel like you've been trampled by a mob of bulls," Mr Kreig told A Current Affair.

He feels like he needs to stay strong for his community.

READ MORE: Devastated residents claim second flood in a year is a 'man-made' problem

"If I go down in the blubbering heap, a lot of people in the town will probably follow," he said.

The floods in the region have blitzed all known records and the heart of the Northern Rivers is now shattered.

Toy Kingdom store owner Kerry Horner compared his shop to a "war zone" and said the 2017 floods were "a walk in the park" compared to last week's floods.

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"Ceilings, lights, everything was dangling and hanging (is a) soggy mess of boxes and toys," Mr Horner said.

He lifted all stock up to his mezzanine, which had been a previous flood safe zone, but this time it wasn't enough.

Despair is now turning to anger in the town because locals say there was little to no warning for them.

"It wasn't until the twelfth hour that everyone found out this was going to be bigger than Ben-Hur," Little Polli and the Blackbird store owner Rod Latimer said.

The home goods business owner said he and his wife had only just purchased their building a month ago, but now that their future is in doubt, and with spiraling costs, bankruptcy isn't out of the question for them if there isn't more help.

"I think there needs to be higher level officials that have dealt with catastrophic situations to come in and give people a plan," Mr Latimer said.

The clean-up has been slow work and those who are helping are volunteers.

After two record floods in five years, it's all become too much for some residents.

Others like Sian O'Toole only moved into her home in October.

"I'm pretty stressed and overwhelmed," Ms O'Toole said.

"But … as every day goes by, I feel better because I've just had so much support even though I'm new here."

Ms O'Toole checked previous flood levels before she bought, but no one expected this.

"As you can see my house is pretty high, the water came in to about 180 centimeters in my house, so basically everything is damaged, everything is out the front," she said.

She's been able to save some family photos but fears for the future of her new hometown.

"We're living in a tip … especially in the early days when we were so cut off, isolated, no (we) weren't able to communicate with people. No water, no fuel," Ms O'Toole said.

But help is now rolling in with donation after donation.

"It really is intense, we've never seen a flood like this, in the history of this town," Joel A'Bell, from the Convoy of Hope charity, said.

The organisation has been setting up depots across the region, for people to come and take what they need.

"We know that the need might be different today. In a few days, that will change again," Mr A'Bell said.

While it's a monumental road to recovery for Lismore and surrounding areas there are little bits of hope shining through.

"We're certainly not going to give up without a fight," Mr Kreig said.

For people impacted by flooding, there is help available.

In an emergency, phone your local SES unit on 132 500.

In life threatening situations call triple zero immediately.

For more information about how to donate to the Australian Red Cross Flood Appeal, visit here.

For more information about how to donate to the Vinnies Flood Appeal, visit here.

And for more information about how to donate to The Salvation Army Flood Appeal, visit here.