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Londonderry business getting ready to restart after floods, again

 A woman in a blue shirt climbs between a cooler and racks of candy. She's surrounded by flooding debris
Brian Stevenson
/
Vermont Public
Susan Brown climbs through the flooding debris in Jelley's Deli, a business in Londonderry run by her mom, Bev Jelley. Jelley's Deli was one of many businesses washed out by the West River flood.

Jelley's Deli has been around for decades. Today, they are one of many Londonderry businesses completely taken over by this week's extreme flooding from the West River.

However, "This isn't our first rodeo, unfortunately," said Susan Brown, the daughter of Bev Jelley, who owns the market.

They faced the flooding during Irene — you can even see the old water line on the wall from it. And now, they're dealing with it all again: losing everything to a flood.

"We went through Irene, and we had about 14 feet ... We lost everything, thank God for insurance," Jelley said. She's waiting to hear back from insurance now about this week's damage.

The damage consists of bottles and food across the floor and debris throughout the building. The floodwaters were even able to tip over two freezers in the corner. Brown said they weren't able to assess the damage until breaking in through the back door.

Brown said water made its way into the coolers, reaching "probably about nose level."

 Three women and two children stand outside of a white building, Jelley's Deli.
Brian Stevenson
/
Vermont Public
Bev Jelley, her daught Susan Brown, her granddaughter Jess Perkins and her two great grandsons stand outside Jelley's Deli in Londonderry. Jelley has owned the deli for decades. Her family is working together to clean up from the flooding damage.

During Irene, Jelley said the business was out for two months. It's easy to assume it will take just as long, or longer, this time around.

"It takes time to get new equipment, and now with the shortage of people that can do work for you like drywall and flooring and all of the trades, you got to take your turn," Jelley said. "And it may be longer than two months, but whatever it takes we're gonna do it and we will get through this like we did before, and we'll be back better than ever, I hope."

From here, the Jelley generations — from Bev down to her great-grandsons — are taking things one step at a time.

Brown said there's a lot of work to do, starting with emptying freezers from the deli and getting rid of wet food.

"Then [we'll] start shoveling it out, little by little," Brown said.

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