Flood Report From Restaurant Owners in Montpelier, Richmond and Waterbury 

Kerner said the business has "some semblance" of flood insurance, but he isn't sure how much of the damage it will cover.

"My heart is sad for the whole of Montpelier," Kerner said. He feels for his fellow business owners, he continued, who will struggle to rebuild once again.

Still, Kerner has no doubt that everyone will pull together during that process. "We are a community," he said. "You don't weep during the destruction. You weep when you see the community come together afterwards."

The three owners of the Stone's Throw Pizza group were already making plans to feed the community as they talked with Seven Days while driving between their Richmond and Waterbury locations on Tuesday morning.

The flood hit both of those towns hard, but for Stone's Throw, "it's a mixed bag," co-owner Tyler Stratton said.

In Richmond, the Winooski River jumped its banks, crossed Volunteers Green, and swallowed the restaurant's beer garden and the front vegetable garden that "we love so much," Stratton said. "They're both a total loss."
"Our tables are gone, too," he added, referring to the outdoor tables, which had floated away.

On the plus side, the Richmond restaurant is built on a high foundation, and the water was hovering about a foot below the dining room, he said.

The Waterbury Stone's Throw at 13 Stowe Street was OK. "It's at the crest of the hill," Stratton said. "We're going to open the doors, not to serve [customers] but to make cheese pies and give out free pizza."

Another Waterbury restaurant owner, Nicole Grenier of Stowe Street Café, had been doing something similar since 6 a.m. on Tuesday.

Counting herself lucky to have been spared flooding, Grenier had navigated from her home around closed streets, including the submerged Waterbury roundabout, to open with free coffee and whatever food she had on hand.

She knew that other Waterbury restaurants, such as the new location of Hen of the Wood and Prohibition Pig, both owned by Eric Warnstedt, had been flooded to various degrees.

Emmi Kern, general manager of Hen of the Wood at 14 South Main Street, confirmed that the restaurant had a few inches of water in its basement. She did not have details on the situation at Prohibition Pig, which is located across the street at 23 South Main Street.

As of late morning, Grenier of Stowe Street Café reported that the water in town had risen six inches. More rain was in the forecast.

She had spread the word on social media that if anyone needed coffee or Wi-Fi, "We're here," she said.

"So many people have come through," Grenier said. "They're so grateful for the tiniest dose of normalcy."