Apres le Deluge -- Quick Reaction to Flood Spares Bookstore

Dateline: Wednesday, June 26. It was a dark and stormy night in landlocked Fort Wayne, Indiana. The staff of the 10,000-square-foot Million Story Book Company was closing up at 9:00 p.m. when the storm sewers serving the bookstore and other businesses in the Covington Plaza strip shopping center reached their capacity and "geysered up," according to store co-owner, co-founder, and marketing manager Dave Kaverman.

Kaverman told BTW that the sudden torrential downpour proved too much for the drains, and he received a call from staff that "water was coming into the store." When he arrived at 9:30 p.m., the store "had acquired an indoor lake of one to two inches," he said.

The damage to inventory was fairly minimal, Kaverman noted, perhaps $5,000 retail value, but the major costs of the restoration, replacement of the parquet floor, and loss of business for eight days will total at least $50,000. The good news is that the 10-year-old store's insurance agent recommended a skilled restoration company, which arrived less than four hours after the flood, vacuumed the floor, and dried the walls until 9:00 a.m. Thursday morning.

"Fast action and response made it possible to bring the humidity down immediately and not damage more inventory. If they [the restoration company] hadn't worked so quickly, there wouldn't have been such a good outcome. They had 60 residential jobs lined up, but they worked on businesses first," Kaverman said.

He also noted that he was very happy that the bookstore had adequate insurance. "At times, it is tempting to save a few dollars by cutting coverage, but you have to have the coverage to cover losses that you couldn't handle yourself if they happened. We will get through this because of having good coverage. Without it, we would close."

The store reopened on Monday, July 8, to grateful customers and a tired but relieved staff. No author events had to be cancelled -- Joan Medlicott, (From the Heart of Covington, Dunne Books) scheduled to appear the night of the flood, could not travel due to illness.

The next event, with readings by Doubleday author Eliza Stuckey-French, takes place on Wednesday, July 10, and is appropriately titled "Welcome to Mermaid Springs." -- Nomi Schwartz