CINCINNATI — 10 days ago, Drew's on the River was nearly submerged under floodwater, with just the roof sticking above water. Now, the restaurant is back open.
Owner Ron Schmidt said it wasn't easy, but he credited the quick turnaround to community support.
"Luckily, a lot of volunteer help," Schmidt said. "It was hell."
Schmidt said those volunteers spent 14+ hours each day cleaning the restaurant.
WCPO 9 spoke to Schmidt on April 9, where he told us the cleanup could take weeks.
The flooding was so severe that the restaurant's stage area was completely underwater. Even after the water receded, it left behind a sloppy mess of mud and river silt.
"Happy it's gone, and hopefully that's enough for a while," Schmidt said.
See how businesses along the Ohio River were able to clean up quickly in the video below:
Down the road at 13 Below Brewery, CFO Ray Busche tells a similar story of having a lengthy cleanup effort.
"Everybody was scrubbing river silt and squeegeeing it into the outdoors and down the drains," Busche said.
The flooding at the brewery was also significant, with outdoor furniture being carried away by the rising waters.
"Every one of these picnic tables floated off to another space within this vicinity," Busche said.
Busche said there were also items from other nearby businesses that made their way to their property.
Busche said part of their preparations included moving kegs out of their building.
The walls of 13 Below Brewery even pay homage to the flood of 2018 with pictures of the aftermath then. Busche said they learned from that flood, and it helped them prepare this time around.
Bushe said cleanup at the brewery took about a week.
"Really, it was about five straight days of putting the nose to the grindstone and pushing mud," said Busche.
Even though they're open now, Busche said they took a bit of a hit financially from having to close down.
"Missing a week and a half of revenue is tough," said Busche.
Despite the challenges, 13 Below Brewery's plan to bounce back is simple.
"Just serving up some beers," said Busche.
This story was reported by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
