The flood-stricken community of Rochester in central Victoria is still in recovery mode after the downpours that devastated hundreds of homes and businesses about three months ago.
Many of the town's more than 3,000 residents have been displaced throughout the recovery process.
"Somewhere around 40 to 50 per cent of our population [is] just not living in town," former Campaspe Shire councillor Leigh Wilson said.
"People are feeling that level of separation."
Most people who are still living in Rochester are in caravans, awaiting repairs to their homes.
After a two-hour drive around Rochester, Mr Wilson and his wife counted 250 caravans that the town's residents have been living in.
"My 83-year-old mother, she added to that list over the weekend," Mr Wilson said.
"We've established a caravan for her in her front yard, and she will be moving into that this week."
Homes destroyed, residents waiting on works
The repairs on Mr Wilson's mother's house started last week after "about 45 centimetres of water" went through it.
Mr Wilson said she was not expected to be able to move back in for nine to 12 months
He said there was a shortage of tradespeople and builders in the area, and those who were working with insurance companies had to go through processes to complete the work.
"There are people I have been talking to that know they're not going to back in their home for 18 months or longer," Mr Wilson said.
He said insurance had overwhelmingly worked out for most people following advocacy by the community to speed up processing times.
However, Mr Wilson encouraged residents to stay abreast of upcoming information sessions, with one scheduled for tomorrow.
The former councillor said while the recovery was slow going he was seeing progress.
"I think a lot of residents around Rochester do feel alone or abandoned, and that's certainly not the case," Mr Wilson said.
"It's the sheer scale of what we have in front of us around the town to recover — within the vicinity of 800 to 1,000 homes and the majority of those now have been gutted."
Businesses adapt
Rochester businesses had generally taken a hit because of the displacement of the local population, but there had been some silver linings, Mr Wilson said.
"We've got some businesses that are doing quite a good trade simply because of all the extra tradespeople in town," he said.
Rochester business owners and sisters Aline Davies and Christelle Reinbolt were already looking to make a change before the floods hit.
They established their boutique about two years ago after they were drawn to Rochester because it reminded them of where they had grown up in France.
"We just thought that it was time to take the shop to a higher level," Ms Davies said.
"We actually don't really have the time for that — having a young family, both of us — so we thought it would be good to have someone taking over."
The sisters had feared the flood might make it more difficult to find a buyer, but a fellow Rochester resident has stepped in to continue the business.
Ms Davies said it was important that people continued to support the Rochester community.
"We are all playing it a bit tough at the minute because not many are actually living in Rochester ... and the ones that are live in the caravan, awaiting their house to be repaired, which [is] expecting to take six to 12 months," she said.
"It is a matter of anybody passing by stopping to get petrol in Rochester or even just to buy a coffee in Rochester... just to keep those businesses going.
"We really rely on those tourists that are going to come by and make an impact on our town."
Mental health, connectedness key
Mr Wilson was concerned that a lot of people in Rochester were becoming withdrawn.
"The community house in Rochester undertook some extensive door-knocking through the town and a lot of people weren't answering their door, even though they could hear someone in the house," he said.
"That's not all door-knocker shock — I think that's a sign of people that just don't want to interact, and that's not a great sign."
However, he said there was also some positivity around the town, with a challenging festive season behind them and schools preparing to welcome students back at the start of the term.
"We do know, though, that we've lost quite a number of kids to other schools," Mr Wilson said.
He flagged mental health and social connectedness as important issues to monitor as Rochester's recovery continued.
