SUMMERVILLE, Ga. — Gov. Brian Kemp was in Summerville Wednesday to inspect the damage that still remained after the historic flooding that swept through Chattooga County during Labor Day weekend.
"We are tackling everything that we can with any resource that we have," Kemp told reporters at a press conference on Wednesday. "We have every resource that we have available in state government."
The press conference took place near Summerville City Hall. It's also where volunteers were handing out food and bottled water to residents who have not had access to either since the flooding started.
Also impacted are business owners -- many of whom have not been able to open due to the lack of water. Among them are Nicolas and Heather Casey, owners of a local design and décor store named DIRT. The couple was stranded downtown because of the flooding, as they were on their way to the airport to celebrate their wedding anniversary.
"We couldn't get back home and we couldn't get to the store," Heather told 11Alive's Karys Belger. "So there was nothing we could do."
Heather took photos of the store while it was still partially submerged. She told 11Alive she watched part of her inventory float away from the store during the flooding.
"We realized that our doors had been pushed open and we saw merchandise just floating down the street."
Heather and her husband Nicolas ran a small eatery and coffee shop in the space as well. Nicolas told 11Alive that several pieces of kitchen equipment were lost in addition to the other merchandise in the store.
"We've lost about $175,000 to $200,000 in inventory, merchandise, fixtures, couches, furniture and equipment," he said. "We've lost that much."
Nicolas and Heather attended the governor's press conference to ask what assistance the state would provide for small business owners. One of the solutions presented was a small business loan which they both said was not a viable option.
Nicolas says the biggest challenge is not being able to pay his staff who have shown up to help clean the store.
"We employ about 30 to 40 people in this building on a part-time or full-time basis," he said. "And we want to keep providing jobs and we want this place."
Despite the ongoing struggles, they both stated that they're going to see what assistance they can get as they continue to try and work towards reopening.