Downtown Frederick businesses clean up after storm

Frederick News-Post (MD)

May 17--A thick black line marks the archway in Vinyl Acres where 3 feet of water flooded the downtown Frederick record shop in September 2015. On Wednesday morning, a watermark was visible halfway from the line to the muddy shop floor where rain again flooded the store.

"It's still wet from last night," co-owner Bob Berberich said. "There may be a foot difference, but it didn't make any difference in terms of what I lost."

Vinyl Acres is one of several downtown Frederick businesses that were damaged during a heavy, fast-moving storm Tuesday night.

Berberich estimates the water that flowed into his shop destroyed $10,000 to $15,000 worth of merchandise. He and a group of friends worked Wednesday morning to move waterlogged records, stereo equipment and other items.

"This time, I had everything in plastic bins," Berberich said. "But it doesn't matter if everything goes over the edge of the bins. It would have helped if there were 2 inches of water in here."

Berberich said he rushed to the store after receiving a flash flood alert on his phone around 8 p.m. Tuesday.

"When I opened the door, there was a foot and a half of water in here," he said. "It was too late. Not that I would have been able to do anything anyway."

In another East Patrick Street basement space beside Vinyl Acres, Indellibelle eyelash and eyebrow service owner Ashley Goldston had been cleaning up her salon since 3 a.m. Wednesday.

About 15 inches of water flooded the shop, Goldston said.

"We've been working feverishly since [3 a.m.] to get all of the water and debris out of here and get everything as dry as possible," she said. "Even though we try and prepare, when a storm this big comes through, unless you have a submarine door to make sure water doesn't get through, there's not much you really can do."

Indellibelle is a service-oriented business and does not stock much merchandise, Goldston said. Still, the water knocked over a cabinet and damaged supplies.

"All my lash supplies were turned over and in the water," she said. "I've already been on the phone with vendors and suppliers who can overnight supplies to us."

Goldston estimated Indellibelle sustained at least $5,000 in damage between supplies, merchandise and furniture.

Other downtown businesses reported sustaining water damage such as light flooding and a partial ceiling collapse, said Leeann Dickerson, marketing and promotion manager for the Downtown Frederick Partnership. But Indellibelle and Vinyl Acres were impacted the most.

The Downtown Frederick Partnership has set up an online fundraising campaign to support businesses affected by this week's storms. Money can be donated at bit.ly/downtownflood.

Most of the other businesses affected, such as Dancing Bear Toys and Gifts, Venus on the Half Shell, and Rock and Roll Graveyard, were cleaned up and reopened by Wednesday afternoon, Dickerson said.

Goldston hopes to have Idellibelle reopened soon, she said.

Provided that no other storms hit, "I'll hopefully be up and running by next week," she said.

For Berberich, the future of Vinyl Acres was less certain.

"I can't even worry about replacing stuff at this point," Berberich said. "I've got to get everything that has been destroyed out. I've got to get the store clean. Then we'll go from there."

After the September 2015 storm, a fundraising campaign started by the Downtown Frederick Partnership raised $10,000 to help Vinyl Acres restock and reopen.

The assistance kept the store alive, Berberich said. He was gung-ho to reopen after the 2015 storm. He thought it was a once-in-a-lifetime rain that wouldn't happen again. This time, he said, damage to the store he runs with his wife and daughter is a bigger blow.

"The thing with records is they're hard to replace. They don't walk in the door every day. That stock that I lost, I can't go buy it somewhere tomorrow. It's going to take a while to replace," Berberich said. "In the big picture, I'm OK. We survived. What we'll do, I'm not sure, but we'll survive."

Follow Cameron Dodd on Twitter: @CameronFNP.

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