THE deluge that swamped Traralgon this week took its toll on the Traralgon Men’s Shed.
The local health support organisation has faced its share of funding challenges in past months, and this week participants found themselves ankle-deep in mud, assessing flood damage.
Located in Traralgon’s Howitt Street showgrounds area, the community facility currently occcupied by Men’s Shed had flooded only once before in its 27-years of use on the site, according to coordinator Colin Reid.
“Council assured us that once all the willow trees had been removed from the (Traralgon) creek area we would be okay but we’re not,” he told The Express.
“The whole place is covered in mud and marks on the wall show the water rose about 300 millimetres inside.”
Men’s Shed participants were busy cleaning up on Tuesday and assessing the extent of damage to their machinery.
During the clean-up they discovered water over most of their bandsaw’s motor with Mr Reid estimating that alone would cost about $1000 to replace.
The group was enquiring about whether they had adequate flood damage insurance cover.
On Tuesday the facility was closed to participants as there was no road access to the site.
“We had to park on the other side of the railway and walk along the railway line just to get in to the back of the building,” Mr Reid said.
