Amesbury Businesses Re-Open After Severe Flooding

AMESBURY – Downtown businesses closed by the recent flooding of the Powow River began to open their doors today.

National Grid returned power to Main Street early this afternoon, the first time businesses there have had electricity since Tuesday when the area near the river was evacuated. Despite damage they have sustained from the flooding, many owners were eager to resume serving their customers.

“We want to let people know that businesses are opening, that roads are opening,” said Gordon Breidenbach, owner of Scandia Restaurant, 37 Main Street. “We don’t want this to hurt us.”

Amesbury was one of several communities along the Merrimack River to experience pervasive flooding as a result of this week’s heavy rains. Water poured over and around the dam in the Upper Millyard as a result of the weather, forcing town officials to close downtown roads to all traffic.

Today, roads reopened, the electricity came back and business began to return to normal.

“We had extensive damage in the basement, but no knockout punches that will prevent us from opening,” said Mark Friery, owner of the Powow River Grille, 33 Main Street. “We thought the most important thing for the community was to show vibrancy and get it open.”

Breidenbach said the re-opening would not have been possible without the generosity of Amesbury residents, who donated man power, electric generators and storage coolers to his business and several others.

“This is a testament to the sprit of the people of Amesbury,” said Rep. Costello. “This could have been a devastating incident. Instead, due to the enthusiasm and perseverance of volunteers and business owners, things will be back to some semblance of normalcy.”

To celebrate the re-opening of Amesbury businesses, Rep. Costello planned to have dinner at Scandia on Thursday evening.