ANNAPOLIS, Md. — A higher than normal flood swept through Annapolis and businesses at City Dock felt the after effects.
The flood water has receded, and all city roads are opened back up, but the businesses here have felt it harder than ever before.
The flood levels were at 5.1 feet above average water levels, Mayor Gavin Buckley said it's the third worst the city has seen.
Early morning water still flowed in front of businesses at City Dock, but as fast as it got there, it left even quicker. Mayor Buckley was there early to assess the damage.
"When this happens to your long term businesses, they can only take so much cause when we flood it stop customers getting to those businesses, when we flood to this level it damages those businesses,” said Mayor Buckley
It's the effect Ryan Lamy said he felt when he showed up to his restaurant Pip's Dock Street Dogs. In business for about 15 years, he said this is the worst flooding they've ever had.
"I had no idea that the flooding was going to be this heavy. Now it's going to be a major cleanup process. We got to get in here and disinfect, mop disinfect, we may have lost a couple pieces of equipment I’m not sure yet that could be a few thousand dollars there,” said Lamy.
But the flooding wasn't his only concern, a red notice saying keep out was taped to his window. Something he said hasn't happened before.
"We've got city inspectors telling us that now they've got to inspect the buildings. They want to inspect for mold and I understand that too but this is the first time it's ever been done," said Lamy.
Taking a stroll down Dock Street, you'll notice a red sign that's on almost all the shops on the street.
Nicole Torres with the Annapolis Office of Emergency Management said it's part of the assessment that is being done.
"We're just conducting our initial damage assessment, once those are completed, we'll be able to have more information for everybody,” said Torres. “They've been working on it since the water receded so they started as far as they could this morning and now that it's pretty much receded all the way back they're going to go business to business further down the Dock Street what was affected.”
But until that's finished the businesses must stay closed, something some may not be able to endure.
“My big concern is when and how long is this going to take, I need to get reopened I’m a very small business and I can't sustain this,” said Lamy.
Lamy said there was almost two and half feet of water inside the shop.
As for now, he said they just need some privacy for a few days to clean up and figure out what needs to be done to get reopened.
For anyone whodealing with flood damage, the City of Annapolis has created a self-reporting assessment tool.
To report the damage, click here.
