It was one week ago today that a water main break in Southwest Minneapolis caused the Paperback Exchange book store to close.
Up to 100,000 books ruined. Completely lost, as the basement housing a majority of their inventory was flooded according to owner Andy Hersey, who's family has collected the books for over five decades.
"The whole basement was basically four-feet deep of books and mud," he explains. "At one point, the basement was fully submerged with water and there was up to about one-foot of water on the main floor of the building."
A call came in around 3:30 last Thursday morning at the two-story building at 50th and Penn where the Paperback Exchange and a couple other businesses are housed on that bustling, southwest Minneapolis corner.
When fire crews arrived, they found water gushing out of the first floor, including at Terzo, an Italian restaurant. Sparrow Café was also heavily damaged.
It took several hours for the water to get shut off, which by then had flooded streets and alleys with up to three-feet during a bitterly cold morning with temps and wind chills far below zero.
For these businesses, it's been an emotional week.
"We haven't slept lots of tears. It just - it's so overwhelming. Tt's hard to even put it in words," Hersey says.
On the bright side, the community has stepped up to help.
"So many people have have reached out to just, you know, ask how they can help," Hersey explains.
They were able to save a significant amount of books and Hersey does say a possible rebirth would be "incredible."
A water main break last Thursday in Southwest Minneapolis caused extensive damage to the Paperback Exchange book store, temporarily shutting it down.
Hersey says he hasn't slept in a week and feels stuck because insurance won't cover the entire cost. He also has five employees that are now out of work.
"The insurance company, I think said, you know, 'it's not our fault, it's the city's fault, you'd have to try to get money from the city.' So that's the one kind of gray area right now, is the city gonna step up and do something to help? Because every business in our building is out," says Hersey.
So far, over $22,500 has been raised through a Go Fund Me page. There's been no word yet from the City of Minneapolis on if they'll help these businesses.
The story is much the same at Terzo, a popular Italian restaurant that is part of the Broders' family. According to a post on their website, they're still looking for help from the city as well.
"We are working with the city to understand the full scope of damage, what the timeline looks like, and how we can support our team members directly impacted."
As for the city, so far they've only said they're further investigating the building and assessing damage. A spokesperson for Minneapolis sent the following to WCCO Radio to clarify their plans for businesses in the area.
“The City of Minneapolis has a water main failure rate well below the average for a water system of our size and actively invests in water system improvements based on asset management principles. The City will review claims from property owners affected by the most recent water main break. Claims will be evaluated based on Minnesota law. In addition, affected property owners are encouraged to also file claims with their insurance providers"
They add that temperatures have risen enough to allow concrete pouring to happen. They do anticipate 50th Street fully reopening to traffic by the end of the day Friday.