Carroll said in the past year, the town has been on high alert three times for floods - the last one just 10 days ago.

But this time had been the worst - about three-quarters of the historic town was damaged, with numerous roads ripped up and the new hockey field destroyed.

He said there was no warning for Molong on Sunday night, but the heavy rain had prompted his partner Nathan Lee to go and check on the shop.

For five hours, Lee was moving stock and helped sandbag neighbouring shops.

Despite their efforts, some shops have been destroyed - their windows smashed from the force of the water, with mud and sludge coating the street. At Carroll’s shop, Christmas decorations and English tweed caps were floating in the water.

“It’s like a bloody war zone. I don’t know what to say,” Carroll said. “I am one of the lucky ones because we are higher up [the street], the water only came up one metre in my shop. But there are businesses here that won’t open again.”

Jade Gavin, owner of Bella Hair Studio, located on the town’s main shopping strip, could only label the mood in the town as “sad”.

Gavin and her husband went to the salon at 7.30am on Monday to inspect the damage and arrived to find mud on the walls and all the furniture ruined. Gavin had only just purchased the salon in June.

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“Everyone was in shock, I just didn’t think it would be this bad,” she said through tears.

Real estate agent Scott Petersen said the town centre looked “apocalyptic”.

“There were cars pushed away, every shop has had five-foot of water through it,” Petersen said. “It happened so quickly, it busted all the glass out and it was an absolute disaster.”

Petersen said his McGrath office had been flooded three times in less than 12 months. “It’s starting to wear a little bit thin.”

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“It has just started to get its own identity, real estate is ever-increasing,” Petersen said. “This is a real kick in the guts for everyone.”

Wendy Henry, who owns the Booful homewares shop, lost much of her stock but said Molong was resilient.

“We are so lucky we’re in a small country town that’s very community-minded.”

With AAP

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