An entire downtown of businesses shut down by floodwaters in Montpelier this week turned Thursday to the work of removing debris, now that much of the water and gunk that filled their basements and stores is mostly gone.
“A lot of people have had the water recede, and now it’s time for clearing things out,” said Marek Zajak, an AmeriCorps team member with Montpelier Parks. Zarak was coordinating volunteers under a canopy at the end of Main Street.
But even as they welcomed volunteers, some business owners feared they might never be able to reopen.
“We’ve had a lot of really emotional business owners who are really sad and really afraid of what’s going to happen to the future of their businesses, so we’re going to need to rally around them as a community to make sure that they can get can get back open and that we can love them as much as we did before,” said Peter Walke, a volunteer with Montpelier Alive, a non-profit organization helping to coordinate more than 1,400 volunteers.
In the back alley behind Onion River Outdoors, co-owner Jen Roberts looked out on the myriad helpers sorting out what could be saved, carefully washing ski poles and other outdoor equipment.
“We washed all the skis,” Roberts said. “We washed all the bikes. Now we’re on to ski poles and car racks.”
Roberts said that, on Wednesday, as many as 50 people turned out to help.
“Onion River in some iteration is going to be 50 years old,” Roberts said. “There’s a lot of people who have a lot of history with it.”
In the capital of an outdoors-mad state, the store has become a community resource, “so when you need something, they show up,” Roberts said.
Among the volunteers was Mitch Smoller.
“I think that Onion River Outdoors is a fundamental anchor in the economic machinery of the community and I feel like it’s an important piece to be involved with,” he said.
And yet, Roberts said, she doesn’t know if the store will be able to reopen.
“I think we will in some capacity at some point, but there are so many questions right now, like our basement,” she said, pointing out that the cellar pumps have always struggled. She wonders if the basement will ever be dry, and wonders the same about upstairs.
The store does not have flood insurance, she said, nor do Roberts and her husband, Kip, have cash reserves. To pay staff, she said, they will take out a loan and get family to help.
“But I can’t do that for very long,” she said.
She anticipates that much of the salvaged merchandise will be sold at an outdoor sale at deep discounts.
‘I can’t do this’
Roberts said she has been hearing similar stories from other downtown businesses.
“There are some people who are throwing up their hands, like ‘I can’t do this,’” she said. “And I’m really nervous about who might not be here.”
Roberts said she sent a message to people on the store’s email list, asking people to support downtown businesses by buying gift cards. She said that’s how she and her husband got started when they bought the business from Andrew Brewer in 2018. The couple raised $85,000 that way, she said.
Kegs of beer filled another part of the back alley that Onion River Outdoors shares with Three Penny Taproom.
Taproom co-owner Kevin Kerner was certain that the mecca for craft beer lovers would reopen, despite significant damage.
“We’re going to have to cut the walls out, get the insulation out of the walls, replace our benches, (replace) all of our equipment,” Kerner said.
Many volunteers turned out there, too.
“A lot of people I don’t even know, and that’s kind of emotional,” Kerner said, choking up.
The restaurant and kitchen took on 4 feet of water, he said. “The kitchen has significant damage,” he said. “The dining room has significant damage, the bar.”
Looking ahead, maybe
Over at Bailey Road, a home furnishings, clothing and gift store on Main Street, Sarah DeFelice managed to move undamaged merchandise to a warehouse. Everything else was outside in the back. The store was cleared out and the floors seemed in decent condition.
“This is looking 100% better than what it did 48 hours ago,” she said. “The flooring is starting to pop. We have a crew coming in tomorrow to cut down drywall.”
But the custom cabinets, made of particle board, were heavily damaged, she said.
For all the damage, she was confident her store would reopen.
So were Kelly Sullivan and Maddie Miller, owners of Splash Naturals.
“It looks like we saved our floors but we lost a lot of inventory and our cases and bureaus,” said Sullivan.
They, too, were grateful for the dozens of volunteers who turned out this week.
At AWE, a store on State Street, the volunteers were especially muddied as they helped Patty Joslyn clean up the basement. She was heartened by all the help, but “it’s devastating,” she said. And she was worried about the potential for severe thunderstorms later Thursday.
Joslyn said she doesn’t know yet if she will be able to reopen.
