Woodburn IGA is being knocked down.

Tanya and Neale Hundy have gone away during the demolition because it’s “emotional” to watch.

It should take about two weeks, Tanya said.

The IGA supermarket was renovated and modernised a year before it was flooded to the ceiling in the 2022 floods.

Tanya met with ministers Paul Scully and Jihad Dib when they visited Woodburn SES in July.

She pleaded for government assistance to restore the supermarket.

The Johns Lyng Group is demolishing the supermarket with flood recovery funding from the NSW Reconstruction Authority.

“Johns Lyng will demolish it, but not rebuild,” she said.

Tanya said funding for the rebuild had not been finalised.

“I’m not sure of anything about the rebuild.”

Except she said, IGA were finalising design plans for a new flood-free supermarket.

Like the Norco ice cream factory and Bunnings rebuild, interlocking panels will be used to create a “submarine room” that does not flood.

A bonus of this protection is that during a flood, they’d still be ale to cook and provide food, Tanya said.

Surviving future floods is dependent on this ability to adapt to not only the disaster itself but in the days afterwards when food and fuel routes are cut off.

Tanya is hoping it will soon become clear what the look and funding for the new supermarket will be.

This article appeared on indyNR.com on 30 November 2023.