![]() Still, county officials estimate the flooding damaged more than 3,000 structures overall. Not the entire city was affected - just the parts closest to the Russian River. Water quickly overtook sandbag walls downtown. Television clips showed rescue crews getting around on boats powered by outboard motors. Swift currents carried people away as they tried to escape. Flood stage for the Russian River there is 32 feet, and the river crested at more than 45 feet.įloodwaters covered the main thoroughfares in and out of the town, essentially turning Guerneville into an island, cut off from the rest of Sonoma County on all sides. The riverfront city of Guerneville also was inundated this winter. (Barney Aldridge, owner of the Barlow, did not respond to calls for comment on this story.) Duskie Estes, co-owner of Zazu, is saddened by the passing of her father in law, as well as the condition of her restaurant on Thursday, April 11, 2019, in Sebastopol, Calif. What’s more, because the owners of the Barlow offered tenants flood-proof door barriers and the barriers didn’t work, business owners are considering legal action. Very few had flood insurance they say that it is prohibitively expensive and that the area hadn’t flooded in decades. Most of the flooded businesses probably will be grappling with the effects of the damage well after they open their doors again. "It's amazing how many people have helped and stepped up throughout this ordeal." She added that Jackson Family Wines has been letting the Zazu team use kitchen space at the Siduri tasting room in Healdsburg to prepare food for pop-up events. "Luckily we were able to get our wine and most of our equipment out in time," said Estes, who noted that neighbors in the Barlow were quick to help out as the floodwaters started rising. As for Zazu, though Estes and Stewart had initially worked to repair the restaurant and hoped to reopen in May, those plans are now on hold. Another gallery owner said she lost a $100,000 painting.īarrio, a Mexican street food vendor next to Village Bakery, also lost some equipment and inventory, but was able to reopen earlier this month. Adele Stoll, who owns an eponymous gallery of handcrafted handbags, jewelry and home decor, said the flood ruined all of her crafting goods and electronics. Owner Patrick Lum declared the facility a total loss. ![]() Village Bakery, for instance, sits at the lowest point, and its 3,500-square-foot production kitchen took on more than 5 feet of water. Other businesses, however, didn’t fare as well. Some businesses, such as Fern Bar and Spirit Works Distillery, sit on raised concrete pads and weren’t impacted at all. The western half of the shopping district, which slopes slightly uphill, emerged virtually unscathed. Many business owners first explored the damage by kayak. The deluge swamped the east side of the shopping area, inundating the business spaces with 3 to 6 feet of standing water. Perhaps no place took as much of a hit as the Barlow, a former apple processing factory converted to a 12-acre high-end retail development that opened in 2013. A rough count indicates about a dozen businesses in Sebastopol and Guerneville remain closed due to the damage.Ĭanoers check out the flooding at the Barlow on Feb. Though the local tourism bureau has not released official statistics on monthly visits, local entrepreneurs say tourist traffic in business districts has dropped precipitously in the past two months - down 30 percent or more, in some cases. Now, business owners are hoping for a deluge of a different kind - one of tourists returning to the region. “Mother Nature tested our mettle again, and we showed our resiliency and perseverance,” says Claudia Vecchio, president and CEO of Sonoma County Tourism.Ĭounty officials estimate the flooding caused $35 million of damage to businesses, about one-fifth of the estimated $155 million cost of the disaster overall. It’s another damaging blow to tourism-dependent businesses still grappling with the devastation caused by the 2017 Wine Country fires. Many face huge expenses, as very few had ponied up for costly flood insurance. Entrepreneurs in Sebastopol and Guerneville are struggling to return to normalcy. I mean if there’s no way to get to the bathroom, you’re not opening.” “We can’t occupy the building,” Stewart told the Santa Rosa Press Democrat. On Thursday, trucks arrived at the restaurant to remove Zazu’s kitchen equipment.
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