When floodwaters from the nearby Blackstone River raged through Hope Global’s headquarters in mid-October, the Cumberland-based textile company’s inventory, computers and paper records were destroyed. Everything ground to a halt, and many of the company’s 400 employees were out of work for a week.
Since the flood, the textile company has been renovating 27,000 square feet of office space, repairing its machinery and rebuilding its inventory. “We are at full production,” said Cheryl Merchant, Hope Global’s CEO, last week.
Yet the company, like many others along the Blackstone, has yet to recover from the financial losses sustained in the destructive flood. Merchant estimates the disaster has cost Hope Global $5 million, and the company is still waiting to collect on its $1 million in flood insurance.
The flood impacted thousands of businesses in the Blackstone Valley, causing untold millions of dollars in damage, and leaving many asking how a similar disaster could be prevented.
“The flood may have been [three] months ago, but the damage continues,” said Robert D. Billington, president of the Blackstone Valley Tourism Council. In fact, Billington is just as focused on the future as he is coming to grips with the devastation of the past. To that end, the tourism council, working with the Northern Rhode Island Chamber of Commerce, is holding the Blackstone Valley Flood Forum in early March. Local businesses, public officials and scientists are expected to attend and discuss the threat of floods.
At the behest of the tourism council, Applied Science Associates in Narragansett has determined that last October’s flood caused waters to rise to within 21 inches of the 100-year flood level of 17.4 feet.
Meanwhile, the chamber of commerce and tourism council are compiling a record of the flood damage to determine the extent of the financial losses. However, Billington said, only about 10 percent of affected parties have returned a flood damage assessment form, and no total loss figure has been determined.
On Oct. 31, Gov. Donald L. Carcieri declared a state of emergency. By doing so, the state should be allowed to apply for reimbursement for expenses incurred during the disaster.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency has denied Carcieri’s request for disaster relief for flood victims, but the governor is “seriously” considering an appeal, said Jeff Neal, a spokesman.
David C. Carlin III, vice president of government relations for the Northern Rhode Island Chamber, said the local business groups have worked with government officials to help with the financial burdens of the flood.
The state in October launched a $1 million loan fund – with 4-percent interest rates and one-year to five-year terms – to provide impacted businesses with capital to get back on their feet. The fund provides businesses with a minimum of $10,000 to a maximum of $100,000, according to the R.I. Economic Development Corporation, which administers the program.
Chris Soucie, president of Big Fitness, an exercise equipment store in Pawtucket, said his business declined the loans because Citizens Bank gave him a “very generous” line of credit, which he has yet to use. Instead, he has spent his personal savings on repairs at his Mineral Spring Avenue business.
Without U.S. government recognition of the flood as a federal disaster area, the state has no grant money to offer, McMahon said, and the only aid it can offer are the subsidized loans.
The prospect of another flood in the Blackstone Valley has thrown some companies’ futures into question.
Preparing for the worst, Hope Global has spread its computer network from Cumberland to its other facilities both here and overseas, Merchant said. The company is looking into quick-change motors that can be removed from machinery prior to a flood.
“I don’t think this is a one-company thing,” Merchant said. “If you want to be located on the Blackstone, we have to find a way to protect the businesses. Our next option is to move.”
