Of the two malls and 62 shopfronts on the river side of the main promenade, including those between Cobra and Talbragar streets, 22 were closed yesterday about lunch time.

Shops and food outlets with electrical equipment and car parks on the river incline have perhaps been the worst hit, with both Centro and Riverdale Mall now closed indefinitely.

Centro has two major stores, Coles and Target, with 39 smaller retailers. Riverdale has the town’s only cinema, in addition to Woolworths, Woolworths Liquor and a few other food providers.

For the outlets that are open, customer levels have varied between steady and quiet.

Patronage at the Amaroo Hotel is unusually mild, while Hogs Breath Cafe is open, but still recovering from Saturday’s flood levels.

Other outlets though, like the Mr Beans Coffee Emporium and Troy Grant campaign office, are operating as normal after escaping the damage their neighbours received.

Following a turbulent few days, Amaroo owner Nelson Kelly said his corner hotel has not been able to attract the same number of seasonal patrons it normally does.

“This time of year should be really busy, but there’s not much we can do about that,” he said.

On Monday evening, Mr Kelly shut the hotel down, following a suggestion from Dubbo City Council, but then reopened yesterday morning.

“We told everyone to leave, closed the kitchen down, then had to call everyone back,” he said.

The Amaroo’s car park is completely submerged, but Mr Kelly conceded it could be worse.

“There are a lot of other people who couldn’t reopen,” he said.

Like the Amaroo, Troy Grant’s campaign office now has an underwater carpark, but a working volunteer said that hasn’t lowered morale.

“We haven’t really been affected, except for the fact we have to park our cars on the street,” Pauline McAllister said.

“Our carpark is completely flooded ... It would probably be good if there were more places to park.”

A few doors up from the campaign office, the ANZ Bank branch is closed, with a sign directing customers to Narromine.

As of yesterday morning, the main road between Dubbo and Narromine was closed to all traffic.

Further down the street, one of the lucky escapees was Mr Beans Coffee Emporium owner Sarah Brown.

Ms Brown said her newly-purchased business is “trading as normal”, despite problems in the surrounding area.

“We’ve had a few queries about sewerage and electricity, but so far so good,” she said.

“I think we’ve got about another metre or so in height before we would get into trouble,” she said.

Earlier in the week, Dubbo City Council encouraged businesses to seek advice before continuing to operate in affected areas.

“Food premises in particular need to ensure that food hygiene is maintained by ensuring hot and cold water is available, and that sewer services are maintained to avoid back-up and overflows into premises,” council’s environmental services director Melissa Watkins said.

Most of the closed Macquarie Street businesses have signs on the doors which don’t specify when they will reopen.

FACT FILE

Shops closed:

Centro

Riverdale

OPSM

Scoops and Salads

Tasty Indian

Bay Audio

Jules Crepes

Nails

Flowers by Jenny

Poplars Caravan Park

Two Doors

Travelscene

ANZ branch

Hot Bread Cafe

Subway

Nga Nga Yum Yum

Wesfund

AES.

Red Earth Natural Healing

Mid City Centre

Blush

Jade Boutique

Shops open:

Bob Jane TMarts

Orana School uniforms

Western Automotive Radiators

Graham & Sons

Video Ezy

Sharika

Milestone Hotel

Sticks and Stones

Hogs Breath

Newspower

Hang Loose Clothing

Millers

Sams Warehouse

Dick Smith

2up

Dollars and Sense

MBF

Monkey Bar

Endeavour Chambers

Sussan

Chemist Outlet

Pumpkin Patch

Flight Centre

OEC

Music Matters

Fu Lee Wah chinese restaurant

St George Bank

R. M. Williams

Stephens Patisserie

Troy Grant campaign office

Peter Milling Real Estate

Best & Less

Westpac

TAB

Hair Shenanigans

Mr Beans Coffee Emporium

Have A Look Discount

Sportspower

Chizen Health Club

Leading Edge Computers