NANA Glen’s Idle In Café turned into a safe haven, a hub and a helping hand for the local community during the recent floods.

“Between 24 February when the big rain started and 3 March the roads around us flooded, opened and flooded again,” Alison Johnson, owner of Idle In Café, Nana Glen, told News Of The Area.

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“The usual suspects caused the trouble.

“Edward Sharpe Bridge regularly gets cut off during floods and isolates those that live on Nana Glen rail side of the village.

“It becomes an island over there when the flats further along Bucca Rd towards Moonee Beach get cut off.

“The bridge on Morrows Road was recently rebuilt, but sadly to the same height which means that the Equestrian Centre and residents in the Morrows Rd section get flooded with heavy rain.

“Most of the residents who’ve lived in the Orara Valley for a long time are familiar with flooding and prepare where they can, taking it all in their stride.

“Sadly, following the bushfires in 2019 and the recent housing boom, we’ve seen some of the long-term residents move on.

“We have had a lot more new families move to the area which has revitalised the town, but they are often from the big city and may not be prepared for what occurs during floods in our valley.”

It can be daunting if you’ve never experienced a flood and are unprepared when the weather warnings begin to circulate.

“The Idle In Café becomes almost the last stop at the end of the road during flood times,” said Alison.

With Bucca Rd flooded and Orara Way to Glenreagh cut off, people were turning back and in need of a good coffee and some local info.

Nana Glen doesn’t have a pub and Alison, having been there for almost ten years, finds her little café is a natural place for people to gather and share information.

“I love being a part of this community and seeing how everyone shares information and looks out for their neighbours.

“The phone has been ringing with travellers or locals wanting to know which roads were open and if they can get through to Nana Glen or Glenreagh.

“We rarely get cut off from Coffs Harbour, however there was a brief period during this flood, where the road flooded at Karangi, cutting us off from Coffs.”

Alison has learned that every flood is different.

“We heard of a car caught in flood waters on the Edward Sharpe Bridge which was dragged clear of the waters at the time of the incident.

“However, the river rose higher this time than I’ve ever seen it, and the car was at risk of being swallowed up by the flood waters again, so a group of locals heard the callout and dragged the car clear of the rising water.

“Our café is normally closed on Mondays and Tuesdays, but with so many people either isolated or sick of the never-ending rain, I decided to open for coffees on Monday and Tuesday morning.

“I’m part of the community and live at the café, so I was also feeling like some company and caffeine.

“On Sunday afternoon I gave away what food and milk we had to neighbours who hadn’t had a chance to get to the shops.

“Unfortunately, it left me without milk for the coffees on Monday morning when I decided to open.

“I messaged a handful of locals who are regular coffee drinkers to let them know that coffee was on, but I needed milk.

“Word got to Bec Turnbull, Captain of the Coramba RFS who was out on a maintenance run with their truck, so she called into Coramba servo to grab some milk for us…and delivered it.

“The locals were very grateful indeed.”

The waters in and around Nana Glen have subsided but there is a lot of cleaning up to do.

“People stayed pretty close to home when the roads and rivers first cleared, but now they’re starting to get out and about to assess the damage, share tales and tips and start the clean-up process yet again.”

By Andrea FERRARI