Flood washes couple's dream down Millstone River
Storm causes $60K-$70K in damage to local family's garden store
BY JENNIFER KOHLHEPP
Staff Writer

Clockwise from top left - Furniture, office equipment and store accessories damaged in a recent flood continue to pile up behind a Cream Ridge couple's garden store in Millstone Borough, Somerset County. Richard Potts stands amid the little that could be salvaged after the recent nor'easter completely flooded his shop. Sheena Potts tries to salvage what she can of her gardening pots.

UPPER FREEHOLD - The April 15 nor'easter nearly destroyed a Cream Ridge newlywed couple's dreams.

With hopes of becoming entrepreneurs, Richard Potts, a landscape architect, and his wife, Sheena, a former teacher, took a leap of faith in January and purchased their first small business. Located about 25 miles downstream from the headwaters of the Millstone River in Millstone Township, the landscaping and gardening business is about 150 feet from the river in Millstone Borough, Somerset County.

The couple purchased and renovated the quaint structure into a landscaping and gardening shop called Gardener to Gardener in an area that reminded them of Allentown.

PHOTOSBY JENNIFER KOHLHEPP

With all the other concerns and fears they had while plunging into their first solo enterprise, the couple never imagined that water would be one of them.

During the recent nor'easter, the waters of the Millstone River, combined with those of the adjacent Delaware and Raritan (D&R) Canal, rose up and crossed over the business' parking lot. The river encroached and crested above 7 feet into their gardening shop.

The water rose up so quickly during the storm that the couple and their family members were unable to get most of their merchandise and equipment out of the store. At one point, the mayor of the borough stopped Richard from trying to move one of the business trucks. According to Richard, his feet were so shaky in the rising waters that the mayor feared that the river would carry him away.

By April 16, only the top half of the building could be seen from a nearby intersection. Once the waters finally receded on April 17, the couple started examining the destruction. To date, they have estimated the damage resulting from the flood at between $60,000 and $70,000.

"It's just a shame what the storm has done," Sheena said. "It was just shocking. It's mind-boggling the destruction that water can do."

Amid heaps of items destroyed in the flood, on Wednesday, April 18, the couple along with some of their employees were trying to clean and salvage whatever they possibly could. During the storm, they were able to save files, one refrigerator and some computer equipment, but copy and fax machines were too large to move. They lost furniture, office equipment, two refrigerators, pots, gifts, plants, shrubs, small trees and about 100 flats of flowers.

Richard said people from all over the small town have started bringing back flower pots that drifted off in the flood when the rising waters pushed open the front garage door of the store. Although the water was gentle with some of the smallest and most fragile pots, it was ferocious with a 1,000-pound florist refrigerator, which it picked up and flipped in the store, causing the refrigerator to become jammed between a back garage door and a wall near the office.

What can be salvaged still has to be washed, because the water left everything it touched a muddy, reddish color.

"I'm at my wits' end, but I'm trying not to let it all get me down," Richard said, adding that he awoke from a deep sleep on April 18 only to find out that the sump pump in his basement had failed, leaving the basement in 3 feet of water. He had to take his 15-year-old twin sons out of school that day so they could deal with the situation at home while he and his wife went back to the store.

Richard said the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) may be able to help him and his wife out in terms of re-establishing the business at the very least with low-interest loans. President George W. Bush is expected to render a decision sometime this week with regard to declaring the area a major disaster area.

For now, the family is relying on the help of family, friends and people like Rebecca Pongrazzi, a member of Millstone Borough's Planning Board, who volunteered to help the family clean up and salvage whatever they could.

"These are two people trying to start a business," Pongrazzi said. "How can you not come down and help? We have to pull together."

When asked how the family is pulling through in this trying time, Sheena said, "We've had our moments of sheer shock and breakdown. All you can really do is put one foot in front of the other and clean the next pot. It's almost more than you can comprehend. You can't wrap your mind around. it It's so overwhelming."

Richard said, "We don't have a choice. It's 'make it or break it,' and we have to make it work somehow, someway. I just wish I knew the way."

When asked if the family will still continue with the gardening business, Sheena said, "This is all I can see right now. This is the only option. We don't have any other option. We need to get the shop up and running, and we're fortunate to have the landscaping end of the business thriving."

Richard said the family does not expect to have the garden store open again until January at the earliest. The storm completely wiped out the store's utilities, and most of the wooden interior of the building will have to be replaced. Not only did it warp in the flood, but mold could also set in.

"We don't really know how long it will take," Richard said. "We're not even sure what it will really take. At this point, we're just trying to clean up what's here."

In the meantime, the family will have to rely on the landscaping it does to keep financially afloat. However, with having all the work to do at the store, the family must schedule landscaping jobs around the cleanup work.

"We need volunteers, outreach," Sheena said. "Anyone who could get out here and help us would be great. The more people we have, the easier it will be for us to get back up and running quicker."

The couple looks forward to rejuvenating their dream.

"If nothing else, this makes us stronger people and a little less naive about the dangers of water," Sheena said.