Flooding forces temporary closure of businesses
Raye Brooks and Denni Thomas are among the numerous small business owners in the historic section of downtown Ringgold. Their leased spaces are located side by side on Nashville Street.
Both Brooks’ Ringgold Art and Frame Gallery and Thomas’ Caffeine Addicts have been out of business since July 9, when an isolated storm dropped inches of rain in a matter of minutes and caused the drainage system in the area to back up and flood. Brooks was scheduled to re-open Tuesday; Thomas’ opening date is still unknown.
“The good news is that we didn’t have to pay sales tax this month,” said Brooks as she began moving inventory back into the gallery last week.
The “numbness” Thomas described feeling the night of July 9 — when the community, including members of the Ringgold City Council and fellow business owners, rallied around 10 p.m. to spend up to five hours sweeping water out of downtown storefronts — has given way to the anticipation of re-opening.
“When I walked in here that night, it was like ‘I am going to have to close,’” said Thomas, a single mother who bought the coffee shop in December 2018. “Everything I own is in this store. Now, I am just ready to get back to work and get my employees back to work.”
None of the businesses in downtown Ringgold had flood insurance, because none are in a designated flood plain.
Thomas said she has lost $10,000 in sales and will pay $6,000-$8,000 out of pocket to buy new furniture, inventory and a freezer. Brooks said she will pay at least $10,000 out of pocket for repairs and lost an estimated $30,000 in inventory.
“The water was about 8 inches deep and I just remember watching original paintings floating out the door,” said Brooks, one of the founders of the Ringgold Downtown Partnership whose business has been on Nashville Street since 2001.
Brooks said over the years she has experienced worse downpours at the business that didn’t result in flooding.
Development behind Nashville Street, including City Hall and a new Downtown Development Authority project, has increased the amount of stormwater runoff in the area.
The major drain in the area was built in the late 1990s and runs beneath the storefronts, under Nashville Street and on to South Chickamauga Creek.
The city installed a new pipe under Nashville Street as part of its downtown landscaping project after the 2011 tornado that tore through Ringgold, killing eight.
At the city council’s July 22 meeting, councilors authorized City Manager Dan Wright to seek estimates from engineering firms for a study of the drainage system downtown Ringgold and in other locations where stormwater runoff is an issue.