Most businesses will return after the White River Junction building floods.

This story by Darren Marcy was originally published on Value News on September 1.

WHITE RIVER JUNCTION – All businesses in the Gates Briggs building have reopened following the Aug. 15 flooding, except Tuckerbox, a fancy restaurant that won’t open for at least another month.

The 130-year-old block building was flooded with an estimated 300,000 to 400,000 gallons of water when an automatic sprinkler line broke, flooding the basement with up to 3 feet of water in some areas.

The entire building was closed for 1½ days, with many businesses and upstairs offices allowed to reopen on August 17 after the building was deemed safe.

Another business that was closed longer than the others, Piecemeal Pies, reopened Wednesday.

Front office manager Kimberly Pearce said business is probably double what it would be on a normal day.

“People are really excited to have us back,” Pierce said. “He was busy today.”

Pierce said their house was flooded but they only stored paper goods downstairs, so the impact was limited.

Tuckerbox owners Vural and Jackie Oktay returned from Turkey at 2 a.m. Wednesday and 12 hours later were still trying to wrap their heads around their losses.

The couple hadn’t been on vacation in eight years and were out of the country less than a week after learning of the flood.

But coming home and seeing the damage in person was very difficult.

“We are very determined,” Jackie Oktai said Wednesday. “But it will be a difficult road.”

With a potential loss of $1 million, the couple hoped insurance would help, but said they would be lucky to cover 60 percent of the loss.

Currently, the basement of the restaurant is still being cleaned, and there is no word yet on mold or the extent of damage to the floors or walls. The business lost most of the food stored in a 19-foot walk-in cooler and freezer unit purchased in the spring.

In preparation for their trip and to stock up after their return, the Octais filled the basement with 1½ months’ worth of supplies.

The 3 feet of water and sediment that poured into the basement may have damaged the new refrigerator, and spoiled all but the food on the top shelf.

“It’s hundreds of thousands of dollars in merchandise,” said Jackie Oktay.

The costs of cleaning and reconstruction have not yet been determined, but the restaurant has lost items and materials that were imported from Turkey, as well as expensive spices.

The Octais began renting a refrigerated truck for $350 a day to keep what was left cold.

And they continue to pay workers.

“We have a great staff,” said Jackie Oktai. “We don’t want to lose.”

In the year Opened in 2008, Tuckerbox was purchased by Oktayoy in 2008. In November 2013, they made Turkish food their main focus. They doubled their capacity to 100 indoor seats and now serve 400 to 500 diners a day.

Hundreds of customers flooded the couple’s inbox with donations and gifts.

As of Wednesday afternoon, the fundraising campaign had raised $55,820 of the $100,000 goal, with 464 donations.

It’s support like this that the Oktays say makes them determined to return to their corner of the downtown White River intersection.

Vural Oktay said they brought Turkish food to town, but Tuckerbox belongs to the community and Jackie Oktay said the restaurant will definitely open.

David Briggs, who manages the family trust that owns the building, said the final parts to repair the sprinkler system had arrived and the repairs should be completed by the end of the week, with cleanup being completed next week.

Briggs also said the electrical damage was not as severe as feared and that temporary circuits would soon be operational once permanent repairs were completed.

The Briggs Opera House remains closed. Since there was nothing planned in the upstairs performance area, a more comprehensive inspection was scheduled to take advantage of the quiet time in the schedule.

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