The cold snap around Christmas weekend translated into a flooded business for Nemnich True Value owner Shawn Nemnich.

He swung by the store the day after Christmas, and found water.

“I came around the corner and water was pouring from the ceiling,” Nemnich said. “I feared because of pooling water and electrical issues.”

He managed to turn off both the electricity and water to the building, located at 212 N. Douglas Ave., but not before water poured from the vacant secondfloor apartments through the ceiling tiles of three aisles and onto the main floor.

“It hit the floor, then spread throughout the areas we had carpet,” Nemnich said. “We’re talking 50 foot by 80 foot on the main floor.”

He said there was standing water in the aisles, and it reached the back of the store and the stairs, where it continued to the basement.

“We have one of the only commercial basements in town with (partial) dirt,” Nemnich said. “Once it hit the basement floor, it found the lowest spot and went down (into the dirt).”

The store missed seven scheduled days of business while contractors brought in fans to dry the store. A dumpster out front contained debris from fallen tiles and destroyed merchandise.

“I would estimate we had 70 drying appliances running,” Nemnich said. “Fans and dehumidifiers ... there were hoses and power cords running around. We kept blowing breakers we had so much running.”

Customers were understanding during the closure, but the absence of the downtown hardware store was felt.

“We had customers who told us that there are a lot of items that are only available here,” Nemnich said.

While the store wasn’t functioning at 100 percent capacity, after it reopened on Jan. 5, it is slowly returning to normal.

“Our True Value rep was in last week and he worked with me on getting key items ordered,” Nemnich said. “We will be 100 percent pretty soon. We were lucky it happened now and not a year or two years ago because of supply chain issues.”

With severe cold weather in December, Nemnich said the store had a significant amount of inventory in backstock. This was stored in the basement, and was damaged. The value of the loss is still being estimated.

“I would estimate we had 70 drying appliances running. Fans and dehumidifiers ... there were hoses and power cords running around.”

Shawn Nemnich

owner of Nemnich True Value