Post-Hurricane Irene: Businesses Vow to Recover

“We’re going to see this through.”

That is the approach Linda de Velder of the Millstone Workshop has taken in the wake of Hurricane Irene and other business owners, such as Doug Van Nuys of Hillsboro Farm, have echoed those sentiments.

When de Velder returned to the Millstone Workshop and her adjacent home on Saturday afternoon, Aug. 27, she found that Hurricane Irene had already left her a present – about 17 inches of water.

She and her husband John “got busy and lifted everything we could” off the floor and took up all the area rugs. “Boy, we worked like crazy,” she recalls.

They did lose some store merchandise, while other pieces can be refurbished and refinished, the hardwood floors in the house buckled. She described the basement as “a disaster area” and noted the garage, which got more water than the house or the shop, still needs to be evaluated.

An author and writing/English teacher, de Velder’s natural reaction was to keep a diary. She wrote about the water rushing in about 2 p.m. Sunday afternoon, when the flood waters reached the 20-21-foot stage.

Although they never lost electrical power despite the fact that the electrical box was under water, she says, “It was scary on Sunday. I was holding my breath.”

Looking at the floors in the shop, she admits to being amazed that the old Sears Roebuck tile floors were not damaged by what amounted to a second assault by Mother Nature—the shop had flooded in 2007, six weeks after the couple purchased the property.

This time, they “camped out” upstairs and watched.

When she thinks of a neighbor’s house that was inundated with six to seven feet of water, de Velder reflects, “However sorry I feel for myself, I feel more sorry for people lower than we are. It was not as bad as it could have been.”

The couple has made several changes since Hurricane Irene. They moved the boiler and hot water heater upstairs and are evaluating all the floors. They’ve also made a promise to themselves to “keep nothing in the basement that we just can’t say goodbye to and watch float away.”

The Millstone Workshop recently re-opened to customers and boasts a great deal of new merchandise. Shoppers have been “happily surprised to see that the flags are out and we’re open. They’re glad we’re back,” de Velder said. “People have been so nice.”

Although the store has not yet returned to regular hours, it is open Saturdays and Sundays and by appointment.

Like other local farms, Hillsboro Farm Country Market was negatively impacted by Mother Nature. “There was a fair amount of damage,” Van Nuys said. In addition to some of the corn fields being lost, the tomatoes were “pretty much wiped out – there was just too much water,” he explained.

“Everybody survived somehow,” Van Nuys said.

It has well-publicized that the East Coast pumpkin crop was “a disaster,” Van Nuys said.  Fortunately, the staff at Hillsboro Farm had picked whatever pumpkins they had to fill about 25 bins that were sheltered from the weather and are available for sale.

He noted that new blocks of tomatoes and pumpkins are coming in and, he stressed, “The market’s still open seven days a week. We’re still bringing fresh produce in” to supplement the local crops.

In addition to such produce as corn, tomatoes and squash (local and that brought in from other New Jersey farms), Hillsboro Farm will also be featuring hayrides, face painting and scarecrow-making programs each weekend through the end of October.