MURWILLUMBAH business people were yesterday warned they would have a maximum of three to four hours to move stock once water begins to spill over the town's levee.

Just over 50 business people yesterday attended a State Emergency Service breakfast briefing in the Murwillumbah Services Club on plans for a flood.

Murwillumbah SES unit controller Chris Chrisostomos warned that while 53 business people had attended, he had identified 183 business premises which would be inundated.

Tweed Shire Council engineer Danny Rose warned that once water began spilling over the levee it would take three to four hours to “fill the basin” of the CBD.

Mr Rose said during the 1974 flood when the then-levee, which was 600 millimetres lower, was topped near the Murwillumbah High School, it took between three to four hours for the CBD to fill.

Mr Chrisostomos said water would be expected to rise up to four metres near Sunnyside Mall and up to three metres near the Southern Cross Credit Union, severely flooding shops such as cafes.

With just 20 volunteers, he said the SES was likely to be dealing with other priorities than assisting businesses to move stock.

But he said when he recently contacted local trucking company O'Connor's Transport only two Murwillumbah businesses had made arrangements with the firm to move stock.

“I suggest you call them and contract them to be on call,” he told those present.

Mr Chrisostomos said the council had agreed that the second tier of the new $17 million public car parking complex could be used by shopkeepers to store stock in an emergency.

He suggested business people make arrangements with trucking companies for pallets to be dropped in front of stores once a flood looked likely and stock to be covered in cling wrap before being trucked to the car park.