Kwik Strip business owner, Trent Smith has put out an urgent call to get a forklift to his property at Shed 3/45 Three Chain Road, South Lismore to help move truckloads of pallets of donatable goods that is going to be stored at his warehouse facility.

Trent's business Kwik Strip (The Abrasive Blasting Specialist - plug for Trent!) went underwater on Flood Monday as did most businesses in the South Lismore Industrial Estate, you could only see the roof. Trent lost all his gear including his forklift around $160,000 worth.

(The Kwik Strip warehouse in South Lismore. Photo: supplied)

As the water receded Trent and his crew cleaned up the warehouse and now need to wait for his insurance to be finalised which is estimated between 6 and 8 weeks at the earliest.

"We're gonna keep paying the rent on our shed and we're going to donate that space to whoever needs it."

Trent is lending out his warehouse for the next 12 weeks until "we break the back of this cleanup".

The big issue is a forklift is needed to unload trucks, internally manage a double triple stack then load onto box trailers for delivery.

"We've only been able to take the one delivery because we can't get forklifts there so we're turning away deliveries, my forklift is totally buggered."

Trent is a diesel mechanic so tried to fix the flooded vehicle, it ran for 5 minutes then couldn't get it going again then the ADF sent six of their people to have a go again with no luck. Trent's is one of many in Lismore that have terminal flood damage.

There are two options for the community to help Trent.

One is for a big forklift company like Clarks or Toyota Komatsu to come to the party and lend a forklift while the other is for someone to donate $1,700 to $2,000 to hire one for the 12 week period.

Trent has been offered a very low $99 per week but has lost his warehouse and his capacity to earn any income.

"What we really need is to go to Clark, Toyota Komatsu, any of the big forklift companies and say "hey guys, now's your time to shine."

So, what do you think Clark and Toyota? There are pallets of new brand clothes waiting to be lifted off a truck for the desperate people of Lismore.

Call Trent on 0420 317 315 with some good news.