THE mopping up may have stopped but businesses in Hull are only just beginning to count the cost of last week's devastating floods.
The tidal surge, which was the largest in 60 years, crept up on businesses on Thursday evening, causing millions of pounds worth of damage and forcing premises to close indefinitely.
After ceasing production for the day and then having been cut off from their premises by the flood water, staff at Barrass Hull Limited in Alfred Street only found out the extent of the damage the following morning.
Julie Oliver, director at Barrass, said it will cost the company more than £1m to replace ruined machinery, a figure that could swell to £2m with loss of trade.
"We were under 5ft of water. It swept through the factory, the yard and the offices. We have lost practically everything. Our machinery, three lorries, forklifts, everything," she said.
"Our workforce has been fantastic but to get going again, even in a small capacity, will take a couple of months.
"Our customers will have to go somewhere else, so it's whether we get them back or not that is hard to predict.
"The problem is we can't tell our customers when we will be open and up and running again."
The Humber burst its banks shortly after most businesses had closed for the day.
The water level rose quickly, engulfing major roads in Hull, including the A63 and Clive Sullivan Way, as well as flooding Kingston Retail Park and surrounding streets lined with business premises.
While emergency services raced to protect homes, businesses were left defenceless against the flood waters.
Ms Oliver, 52, remembers the 2007 floods that rocked Hull but said the nature of this year's disaster has proved more damaging.
"We flooded in 2007 but managed to pump the water out of the factory," she said.
"This time we just didn't know it was coming and we couldn't do anything about it.
"If it had been earlier, we could have taking precautions, but staff had left the site.
"That was also a good thing because they could have easily been trapped in the building with the machinery we have.
"We were all in shock to start with when we saw the damage. It's devastating, but we will turn it around.
"People in the area are talking to each other and trying to help in any way they can. It has brought the business community together really."
Smith & Nephew was also hit by the floods.
Susan Myers, head of communications of the Advanced Wound Management Division at Smith & Nephew, said: "We have been impacted quite severely by the floods, but it is too early to stay how much it has cost us. We are just focusing on the recovery.
"At the time, the site was immediately evacuated and we had it closed from Thursday evening but were able to reopen the offices on Monday.
"All the ground floors, offices and factory areas were affected.
"We have had such a brilliant effort from everyone to get us back up and running and have had a team of people working around the clock since Thursday."
As well as suffering damage to its main site, the healthcare supplier also lost materials stored at its warehouse in English Street.
However, the company is hopeful the clean-up operation will not be lengthy.
Ms Myers said: "Our priority is our customers.
"We have never seen anything like that before at all but we are assessing the damage and we are focused on recovery.
"We have to work in clean conditions because of the nature of the products we deal with, so the production area is being cleaned thoroughly and the offices are being ripped out and cleaned.
"We have had to rearrange the offices and squeeze staff onto the upper floors but we are coping.
"We also host the worldwide computer network on the site and that is back up and running.
"The recovery is ongoing, but we will be opening the factory for business imminently."
Roger Teasdale, president of the Advanced Wound Management Division at Smith & Nephew, paid tribute to employees at the firm for helping get the company get back up and running.
He said: "We have had an excellent response from employees and supporting companies and contractors and I want to thank everyone for their professionalism during this difficult time and also for the sheer amount of goodwill shown since this incident occurred."
Hull firm Arco was also washed out but managed to carry out trading worth £1m the following day, despite working from a remote office.
The safety equipment company's headquarters in Waverly Street was under almost a foot of water.
Joint managing director Thomas Martin said: "By 6am on Friday, we had a team of subcontractors and cleaners to help out and, by 9am, we had the remote office set up with 45 laptops at our distribution centre.
"We managed to trade £1m on those laptops, which was an amazing achievement."
Three of the offices in the building have been totally destroyed and will need to be rebuilt, while the reception area will remain closed for a couple of weeks. The shop remains open.
