It ended up being well over a metre.

The surprising amount of water, which rose in minutes not hours, went right through the Hume Street business.

"We thought we were getting a foot, so we lifted everything up about that high," he said of preparing for the Friday flood event.

"The SES guys tell me they've got proof it came up 450mm in 12 minutes.

"By the time we drove two cars out, it was coming through the workshop."

Much like other traders in town, Mr Forbes, his family and staff spent Monday cleaning up and sifting through what could be saved.

An electrician was attempting to dry and repair the motors of major mechanical appliances, but various vehicle products, office furniture and business files had already been lost.

Mr Forbes' daughters packed boxes full of tools to "take home and put in the dishwasher". The damage will likely cost "at least $10,000", but that could rise to "forty or fifty [thousand], he said.

"We're covered for everything but flood," he said. "Won't cover us because we're in a flood zone."

The lack of insurance was a story repeated throughout town. Businesses had reprepared for another flood on Sunday, and it was still a chance to occur on Monday.

Almost every store had sandbags at its doors. The Gloucester River peaked at 5.4 metres in the afternoon but the town was spared as rainfall eased.

Staff at Drifta Camping and 4WD spent the day mopping up and stripping out carpet, which was ruined after water seeped into the Church Street store.

"We had sandbags, but it ended up soaking through the walls and up through the floor, " Drifta assistant manager Paul Harrison said.

"We were about ankle-height in the store. About 60 centimetres in the rear."

Mr Harrison said luckily, his boss "put out a call for all staff" to come into work on Friday to strip the store of most of its products, which were trucked to a warehouse.

"I think we actually got away with it pretty lightly," he said. "We've already ordered the new carpet. We're hoping to be trading by Thursday."

Mid Coast Council mayor David West, who has not been able to leave Taree to assess other areas, said the damage from the major flood event across the local government area could run into "hundreds of millions".

"Thousands of kilometres of roads damaged and we don't know how badly yet," he said. "Shops destroyed, businesses destroyed, cattle lost, houses lost - it doesn't get much worse than that.

"As far as property damaged is concerned, the Taree central business district would be the most heavily impacted.

"Businesses inundated with water.

"It could be fifty or sixty million dollars in council infrastructure damage, let alone the damage to privately owned businesses or houses.

"We could be talking hundreds of millions of dollars."

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: