NEW LONDON (NBC 26) — Nearly three months since April's historic flooding hit New London, businesses are bouncing back and returning to normal.
- In April, New London was hit hard by floods.
- Business owners in New London tell me business is nearly back to normal.
- New London Chamber of Commerce is still offering micro grants for flood relief.
This week, John Faucher, owner of Johnny's Little Shop of Bait, is hand painting fishing lures at his bait shop.
"We're getting there, at least we're here for the public," he says.
At the end of April, it was a different story.
“It was heartbreaking," Faucher says.
Johnny’s Little Shop of Bait was essentially an island– completely surrounded by water.
“My wife and I were in waders, things were floating- we were trying to keep things from floating out the door," Faucher says.
Faucher lost much of his inventory in the floods, and he had to replace a lot of his walls. More heartbreaking for Faucher, however, was losing decades of photos and memorabilia.
“A place that’s been there since 1953, there were a lot of neat old things," he says. "Some got lost- a lot of things got lost.”
Plus, he had to be closed during one of the busiest fishing times of the year– the start of walleye season.
“We lost a lot of the business that would have came in the spring," he says.
The community stepped up for Faucher, raising $12,000 through a Gofundme.
“I don’t know what we would’ve done because we don't have that type of margin," he says.
Without the support, Faucher says Johnny's Little Shop of Bait, wouldn’t have survived.
“It shouldn’t be called just one person’s bait shop because I’ve always felt it’s everyone’s bait shop," he says. "It’s the people that come through the door that make it, that give it the character that it is.”
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El Tequila, a Mexican restaurant in downtown New London, is also bouncing back.
In April, the restaurant's basement and back porch were flooded.
“There was a lot of dirt, a lot of debris that came from the river," he says.
Co-owner, Miguel Hernandez, says they were closed for eight days, but they've since returned to normal.
“Everything basically went back to the way it was," he says. "Hopefully it’ll be another 100 years before that happens again.”
It's the same story for other downtown businesses, like St. Johns Thrift Store, which was closed for two weeks during the flooding.
"I would say it's back up to normal, and it's even better," Brenda Sperger, a longtime thrift store volunteer, says. "Now things are better, and we hope it stays that way because we definitely don't want that to happen again."
The New London Chamber is still offering flood relief grants to residents and businesses.
