South Australia's River Murray looks different this holiday season as businesses continue to grapple with the current flood emergency.
Punyelroo Caravan Park near Swan Reach has been closed to most visitors after its operators heard the property would likely be inundated.
The park would usually be full of tourists looking to celebrate the New Year but the site is now flooded.
Managers Glen and Katryna Brown said the loss of business has been devastating.
"Financially we're just crippled, we'll be losing about $80,000 alone just over the summer holiday period," Mr Brown said.
The couple took over the park three months ago and feared they would not be eligible for flood relief grants because they cannot show proof of trading from previous years.
"Because we've been here three months, we don't count even though we should have made the money in the next three, four months," Mr Brown said.
Mr Brown said he had to "stay one step ahead" of rising floodwaters by cutting off power and sewerage, strapping down rainwater tanks and moving items to higher ground.
"You know people have been coming here for 30 years, every Christmas, every New Year, every Easter," he said.
"So to say to people, sorry you've got to have Christmas somewhere else this year and New Year's, you could see their face just drop."
Currently, the park allows semi-permanent residents if they provide their own generators and portable toilets, Mr Brown said.
The peak water level is expected to arrive at Swan Reach in the first two weeks of January.
Mannum Hotel cellar flooded
The basement of a popular hotel in South Australia's Riverland is flooding at an alarming rate.
On Friday night, the Country Fire Service was called to the Mannum Hotel, with water entering the cellar at a rate of 7,000 litres an hour, faster than the pub's 5,000 litres rainwater tank could hold.
Friend of the publican, Chris Pfitzner, says authorities need to take the crisis happening in river communities more seriously.
"The water needs to be removed, and the only way it can be removed is by trucks coming and taking it out of the rainwater tank," Mr Pfitzner said.
"So we're going to have 25,000 litres overnight."
The Waikerie ferry has closed and will remain shut while water levels remain above 12 metres.
Real estate agent Dan Oliver, who has a shack at Walker Flat, said his property has been under water but floodwaters have yet to reach its peak.
"The lagoon now joins the road," he said.
"Luckily we're not to get wet upstairs, very unlikely, but no it's quite sad."
