Mid North Coast businesses are bracing for an increase of wet weather events due to the La Nina weather pattern.
The outlook for the rest of 2022 has been raised to an established La Nina, according to atmospheric and oceanic indicators that inform the Bureau of Meteorology's La Nina alert system, the El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO).
According to the Australian Bureau of Meteorology, La Nina increases the chance of above average rainfall for northern and eastern Australia during spring and summer.
La Nina might have already impacted Port Macquarie's September rainfall.
Weatherzone meteorologist Angus Konta said Port Macquarie received 244mm in total over the month of September.
He said this was significantly higher than the historical average total rainfall for September, which is 81.4mm.
Kendall Cafe being built for wet weather
The cafe building at Kendall, about 30 minutes south of Port Macquarie, is being revamped to ensure it can withstand any future flood event.
The cafe has been in operation for 10 years but owner Jenelle Nosworthy became the building owner about three months prior to the floods.
The business has been operating out of a food catering van called 'Travelling Millie', while the main building is repaired.
Ms Nosworthy said the March 2021 flood was a wake-up call.
"We have to assume that nothing is predictable and we wanted to make the building flood-resilient," she said.
The cafe is being built with materials which are 'made to get wet'.
If another flood event does happen, Ms Nosworthy said the building will still be standing and won't be critically damaged.
Oyster impact
David Tunstead is a fifth-generation oyster farmer at Tunstead Oysters, located on Port Macquarie's North Shore.
The farm was heavily impacted by the March 2021 floods, which damaged important infrastructure and wiped out oyster lines.
"Hopefully we never see something like the 2021 flood again," he said.
Mr Tunstead said they've upgraded their infrastructure to provide a safety net against wet weather events.
Storage tanks have been installed, which allow oysters to be contained for up to a week after they're collected.
However, Mr Tunstead said as a farmer there's only so much that can be done.
"You're still at the mercy of Mother Nature," he said.
How much rain the region receives in the lead up to the festive season will determine if oysters will be in plentiful supply by Christmas.
"Once we get 25mm of rain we automatically test the river, and after we get 50mm of rain there's an automatic closure," Mr Tunstead said.
"If we get rain spread out over a long period it's ok.
"It's the flooding, flash flooding or the 150mm in a day that really hurts us."
