His van had escaped the wrath of the deluge which hit the region in the early hours of Saturday morning but unfortunately many neighbouring businesses and houses weren't so lucky.

Seeing friends and neighbouring businesses cleaning up after the overnight storms and in some cases flooding, Karabacak's initial thought was to not open for business that day and instead help nearby shop owners clean up.

But one of those shop owners implored the Woonona Kebab House owner to open for business, stating "we're hungry, we've been waiting all morning for you to open".

So Karabacak opened but refused to take money, instead offering free food to all those people cleaning up after the wild weather which lashed the region.

In fact Woonona Kebab House posted on its Facebook page: "Whoever is around doing community work cleaning up our roads, beaches, parks, their backyards, their shops, they're home, have been busy all day cleaning up the mess nature has left behind, feel more than welcome to grab a feed on us free of charge."

Karabacak said the kind gesture was the least he could do, adding many others in the community also stepped up, including Mad Tribe Coffee, who offered free coffee throughout the day.

"I come from Turkey where they're is always earthquakes. As a kid I saw a lot of natural disasters and I also saw how quickly people in the community moved to help one another, which helps greatly to get general society back up on their feet," he said.

"Obviously this was not like that disaster but people were still hurting and suffering and there was a lot of damage to houses and businesses.

"When I saw my van was okay but others weren't so lucky, I knew I had to do something to help. This was the least I could do.

"In times like this you got to help one another. If not know, when?"

The Karabacak family have had Woonona Kebab House for almost 20 years.

Karabacak said he loved being part of the Woonona community.

"I've been here for so long. This is my community. When people in my community are suffering, I'm suffering " he said.

"This was the least I could do. I was just happy to see others in our great community also stepping up and helping their neighbours. Together we can get through this."