FILLED with tradies and locals enjoying a quiet, late-week beer after a long day, you'd be forgiven for thinking it was business as usual for the team at the Billinudgel Hotel.

But it was less than two weeks ago that licensee Ken Barnham thought he'd better take action and start moving the pub's valuables to higher ground.

"I honestly thought we'd dodged a bullet when the water was only a couple of inches over the road," Ken said of the recent floods.

"The water didn't really start to rise until 11.30pm to midnight. It hadn't really moved until then, but 15 minutes later, it was lapping at the bottom step of the hotel and within half an hour it was inside the building - another hour and it was over the bar."

Well versed in a flood, it was then that he realised all he could do was wait.

"I sat on the internal stairs and just watched it come up. It was about 1am when it reached its peak," Ken said.

After a few restless hours in the cot, Ken emerged about 6am to find the water had substantially receded and immediately "jumped on the hose".

"People started to appear around 7am when they could get through again. We lost about 15 to 20 vehicles, swept off down Wilfred St," Ken said, included in the count was his own Tarago.

It wasn't long before the army of volunteers arrived and slipped into action.

"We were serving our first beer by 12. The good nature of people came out and they all pitched in," he said.

It's a common assumption Billinudgel residents expect a flood when the waters begin to rise, however there are floods and there are floods. The flood waters this time almost reached the 3m mark, the worst flood since 2005 - and a good six inches higher.

As is common in our region, the pub isn't covered by insurance for flood damage, which means the fate of Ken's expenses lies in the hands of the assessor and the hope damages can be seen as a result of storm water.