Ouch. I understand exactly how things like that happen, but it is unfortunate. Hope it’s resolved quickly.
There is a tremendous amount of pressure on everyone in the development/admin chain right now because of the insane influx of new users. (I’m one of them.) It amazes me how well everyone has been handling it. And I am grateful to all of you!
Put an announcement in the New Communities community as a starting point. You can post links about it in other places where potential members are. Telling people to leave where they are and go to your site is inherently rude, so you have to be careful and polite. Check the rules for wherever you post and get a feel for the place before you put up a link.
In the long run people will find you, but it can feel like a very long run. Particularly since you need content to attract people and you need people to generate content. There is a tipping point where it will suddenly take off. Just try to be patient until you get there.
This is probably the best possible time to start new communities. All of us fledditors are creating new accounts and looking for communities to join.