Client

Victoria State Emergency Service (VICSES), Victorian Government

Project

Business FloodSafe – Metro Case Study

Category

Business  Engagement

About

This movie features Some Like it Hot Vintage Shop in Flinders Lane Melbourne and highlights the importance of flood preparedness and having a Business FloodSafe Plan.

The movie is part of a four part series of short community and business engagement documentaries.

The series is so successful other organisations use it to highlight the importance of being prepared. 

Our client says

"I've entrusted my video production work to Red Hat Films for over 10 years. 
Working with Sarah from Red Hat Films can only be described as a truly rewarding
and professional experience.
Sarah with her film making expertise acts as guide and support, ensuring your corporate objectives are met and your story is told with passion and conviction.
When engaging Red Hat Films you are entering into a partnership committed to quality outcomes, and you will be working with a team genuinely dedicated to communicating your message."
Anna Maciejewska
Community Resilience Coordinator
Victoria State Emergency Service

Video transcript

>> MICHELLE: Some Like it Hot is a recycle boutique for men and women and we're located in the Campbell Arcade which is in the subway under Flinders Street Station.

 >> ALLEN: A customer came in and said there's water in the subway. I went and had a look and the next minute it was in the shop. I ran upstairs and Flinders Street had turned into a river and when I came back down (this was all within a few minutes) the shop was full of water. It was ankle deep in the shop, knee deep in the subway. It's just amazing how fast these things happen and you don't have time to think really.

People were coming in here and actually swimming in here. Someone broken their leg down here and it was pretty serious.

>> MICHELLE: We didn't know that the subway had a history of flooding and yeah the water was just, you know... really high, everyone was just in a bit of a daze really, just quite shocked.

>> ALLEN: There was looting, we couldn't close our shops or anything. People just basically going crazy down here. We were here all night basically because we couldn't leave the place. Spent a couple of days down here just cleaning everything. The place was like, you know, full of mud, broken glass, all sorts of things.

>> MICHELLE: We did lose a little bit of stock from the flooding. The main issue was that we couldn't open the shop for a few days. When we have to close there is always a cost, they just see you as inconsistent. You just get really worried, you can't trade you're worried about your income, you've still got your bills to pay.

I found the SES FloodSafe Plan useful, it really got me to focus on what I needed to have in place. Now I have got a first aid kit there, I've got a torch.

When we think a flood is coming, we've usually heard about it in advance. We've listened to the radio. We keep an eye on the weather.

>> ALLEN: You seal the shop off.

We've changed the way we store things now. Anything on the floor is stored in bins which we can stack out of the way. And we also have some heavy bags. We can pull long items up and store those safely out of the way as well.

We've gone from using a tower PC to using a laptop so we can just fold that up and get that out of the way so we don't lose any of our records. Receipt books and things are kept in water tight containers.

Shut the power down and shut the door.

>> MICHELLE: We were flooded again. We were a lot more prepared. We followed the steps of our Flood Plan. We probably survived better than most of the shops down here.

>> ALLEN: It only stopped us trading for that afternoon.

 There are simple solutions, you don't have to spend a lot of money or a lot of the time doing these things.

Second time we were prepared and it definitely paid off for us. Gave us time, we didn't have to worry about anything, we just knew, come back tomorrow and help clean up outside and we'll be operating the business again.

>> MICHELLE: Flooding is just a fact of life, being in this location and we just have to deal with it.

Get organised. You just never know when it's going to happen so be ready.

>> ALLEN: A simple solution can save a lot of heartbreak and anguish and stress because its not much fun when your livelihood has gone down the drain so to speak.

>> MICHELLE: If you read through the toolkit, if you are in an area that you possibly may experience flooding then it will get you thinking about it, it's worth doing.

>> MALE VOICEOVER: Floods cost Victorian communities an average of $465 million each year.

One of the simplest ways to manage the risk of flooding to your business is to create a Business FloodSafe Plan.

Every business should also have a basic emergency kit.

Being FloodSafe is not expensive or time consuming, but it may help save lives, prevent injury and help you reduce the financial damage floods can cause.

Go to ses.vic.gov.au/prepare and make your Business FloodSafe Plan now by following the helpful online prompts or download the SES Business FloodSafe ToolKit.