The beer had only been flowing again for a week when the owners of Two Mates Brewing in Lismore, northern NSW were forced to pack up for the second time in a month under threat of major flooding.
An emotional Grant Smith, who owns the business with Andrew Newton and their families, was at home pondering the next move after spending the afternoon and evening packing up after an evacuation order was issued.
"It's like Groundhog day," Mr Smith said. "It's a bit overwhelming. We haven't had the chance to process the last four weeks yet. This just puts on extra pressure, emotionally and financially."
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He said the culmination of "two years of hard work and pain" to get compliance to open in South Lismore, then to be hit by an unprecedented flood, then to face another major flood four weeks later was surreal.
Mr Grant said they had pushed hard to reopen for two reasons, to provide an income for their families, to thank the community for its support, and to provide a space for the community to gather and recover.
"We thought it was important. A lot of business owners and residents came to the opening night, it was a time for people to talk."
He said they were still waiting for assessment by insurers, but acknowledged there were a lot of people in the same boat, waiting for assistance.
"The continued weather and continued flood makes it a little bit harder for people.
But, the owners of Two Mates Brewing are eternally optimistic.
"At the end of the day, it's important as a business operator (to reopen)," Mr Grant said. "Our two families are fully invested in Lismore.
"We hope we get the help we need to survive. The community needs us, and we need the community.
"I hope everyone can look past comments around rebuilding the town, get past the skepticism, and look forward to the forward to the future and, as we've done before, rebuild and regrow once again."
The Bureau of Meteorology has warned of heavier rainfall for Lismore this afternoon.
"It's still very wet, but at this stage it looks like the heavier rainfall is to the south," BOM Duty forecaster Helen Reid said.
"There's been over 250mm through that northern part of New South Wales to 9am this morning.
"The rivers are on the rise, even if there is a bit of a lull in the rainfall over the next few hours, all the warnings are still in place.
"There is still room for another 50-60mm to come in tomorrow."
Further rainfall is forecast for the remainder of today and Wednesday.
The SES advise the Wilsons River was likely to exceed the Moderate flood level of 7.2m at midday, may exceed the Major flood level of 9.7m at about 4pm, and reach the levee height of 10.6m this evening.
