Goshen business owners assess flood damage

Feb. 23--GOSHEN -- Walking through Casper's Coin and Jewelry Thursday afternoon, the dank, somewhat sour scent of floodwater settling into carpet and crevices cut through the air.

"It's devastating," said Casper's owner David Kollar of South Bend, one of multiple Goshen business owners along the U.S. 33/Pike Street corridor left to deal with damages caused by this week's record Elkhart River levels and subsequent flooding. The walls of Casper's are lined with firearms, with cases around the showroom containing different weapons, rare coins, antique bills, military surplus items and other odds and ends.

"We had basically about 3, 4 inches of water all through the entire shop, front to back," Kollar said, estimating there was between 6 to 8 inches of standing water near the front of his shop at peak times. "It basically ruined the guns and anything close the floor. We thought it would only go so far, but it went further."

Locked in a roughly 800-pound safe were about 120 long guns, Kollar said, all of which had buttstocks submerged in inches of water, now showing signs of rapid molding. Each gun will have to be dismantled and restored by a gunsmith, he said.

"Since they've sat there in the water overnight, guns rust really easy. The handguns will probably get rusty too," Kollar said.

Graded, collectible bills, some removed from their plastic protective covering, were drying beneath a rotating fan, their return to crispness aided by the open doors allowing outside air in. Because NIPSCO shut off gas -- and, in turn, heat -- to many of the businesses along Pike Street, Kollar said it's been more difficult to rid the shop of moisture in cooler temperatures.

"Sandbags didn't help a bit," he said, tracing the perimeter and pointing out sections of the wall which will need replacing.

With no flood insurance, the owner estimated his business sustained damages costing between $15,000 and $20,000, and doesn't anticipate reopening for operation until late next week.

Adjacent to Kollar is State Farm insurance agent Roger Miller's office. Perched higher than Casper's, Miller's first-floor space essentially escaped unscathed.

Like Casper's, Miller's gas was shut off as of Thursday afternoon. Outside, water poured from the side of the property as Miller attempted to drain the 4 to 5 feet of water saturating his basement, entering first through the foundation and then, as levels rose, through a basement window, he said.

"There's pumps going right now. I've got a company in here that's helping me extract the water right now as we speak," Miller said. "Hopefully it'll go down here in the next day."

Miller's main phone and internet service were down Thursday, although he was able continue work with a cellular backup system. The insurance agent said he has responded to "a handful" of calls from clients regarding their own wet basements and minor claims.

"It shouldn't disrupt," Miller said of the flooding aftermath, adding his cellphone number is published, he is still reachable and after-hours State Farm assistance is also available. "People who need service will still be taken care of."

At Cravin Vapes, owner Louis Robbins, of Syracuse, had about 4 feet of water pooling in his basement. Black bottles of vaping "juice" concentrates floated on the surface. However, the majority of Robbins' inventory was saved, as the main level of his business is elevated enough from the ground.

Robbins estimated his damages could total $16,000, including a personal car parked on the property, which was eventually towed.

"I had two cars, a 2008 Cadillac and a brand new CTS-V, and I could only take one," he said.

Robbins said SERVPRO, an emergency restoration service, quoted him $3 per square foot for an affected area about 3,000 square feet in size for a total of $9,000.

AT CHICAGO-PIKE PLAZA

Across Pike Street in the Chicago-Pike Plaza, the parking lot continued resembling a river. Although water has substantially receded since Wednesday, a few vehicles remained submerged, likely ruined.

Crews carried vacuum hoses into Chalet Party Shoppe where carpets were being cleaned. Chalet employees offered little comment, although one employee did note a number of drivers entering the restricted stretch of Pike Street Wednesday, causing wakes and waves to slap against the building and water to be forced through a north-facing side door.

"All the stupid people who decided to drive through the water anyway caused waves and flushed it into the buildings -- thinking about themselves and not the damage they're doing," said Dana Gall, owner of Dana J's Deli and a neighbor to Chalet.

Gall was following an automated floor cleaner around his restaurant, collecting small puddles and dirt streaks.

Gall was one of the lucky ones.

"We about an inch in here tops," he said. "We've just got a bunch of dust and mud to clean up and other than that we're OK. We had sandbagged the doors. That's about it."

An eerie scene waited outside Gall's doors, the parking lot for Kroger, Eastlake Fitness Club and other businesses rippling with 3-plus feet of water.

"We have a crew inside the store now, evaluating conditions and determining the losses," Kroger spokesperson Eric Halvorson wrote in an email. "The initial cleanup is also underway."

Halvorson said food that touched floodwater will be disposed of, and some products, such as bananas, were untouched and are still safe, but they can't be transferred to another store. The company will offer those products to a local food bank "as soon as trucks can reach the store."

"We expect our fuel center to be operational again by the end of next week," he added. Halvorson said the company also intends to have a mobile pharmacy in place for Goshen customers by next week.

A LOOK AT LINWAY

Just south of the most affected commercial zone is Linway Plaza. As of Thursday, barricades were still in place near the multiple entrances, although a few cars could be seen accessing the site.

Water had blanketed the parking lot, leaving a strip of parking space about five spots deep from the south end of plaza.

Memories of China and Erv's Vac Shop were two of the few businesses operating Thursday afternoon.

"Customers can't come because of the closed sign," Memories of China owner Jason You said. "We deliver to customers."

About three or four customers had come to dine in Thursday. You said water never penetrated his building, although his staff prepared Wednesday by placing sandbags along the rear of the structure. His worry now is for the coming days' operations.

"For Friday and Saturday, if it still continues like this, we can't do business," he said.

Erv's Vac Shop owner Chris Black wore a face of disbelief and gratitude Thursday.

"We've never seen anything close to where this was," Black said.

Black's business is situated at the southwest entrance of the plaza. If it were about 50 yards north, he might have been vacuuming his own tears Thursday afternoon.

"We had made necessary arrangements. We started pulling everything off our floors. Anything in the warehouse was moved up earlier in the day because we weren't sure what we were dealing with," Black said. "All the computers came up. We had sandbagged the front door and were prepared to move anything up as need be."

No water entered the building, he said.

"We're happy, though. Things could be much, much worse," he exclaimed, seeming frazzled by the thought of what the worst could cost.

"Certainly were seeing an impact economically from having the roads blocked off and things like that. Even though we weren't impacted with the water nearly as bad as other places, we're still seeing some drop," Black said of limited customer access.

For those in need, Erv's offers industrial fans, carpet shampoos, mildew and mold removers, vacuums and other cleaning items. Most of Black's rentals were spoken for as of Thursday, although some were being returned, with fan-vacuum combos averaging about $40 a day.

Black said he and other plaza business owners were "perturbed" Wednesday watching motorists unnecessarily enter the plaza, only to turn around at the collecting water, driving past his building, and like Chalet Party Shoppe, causing waves to crash against his business.

"There's no sense in driving down here to investigate the damage, to look around," he said. "Please be respectful of the people who are trying to get things done.

"If you're in the way, that's just causing more problems."

Geoff Lesar can be reached at [email protected] or 574-533-2151, ext. 307.

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