‘We’re open!’ Severe flooding impacting tourism in Long Lake
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A popular vacation spot in the Adirondacks is taking a significant blow after last week’s torrential flooding that caused severe damage.
Local businesses say they are getting calls from people wondering if they can visit Long Lake. And the businesses want you to know they are open.
“It’s been rough. It’s all heartfelt. We’re all struggling to keep everybody not necessarily afloat but out of the mud,” Jules Pierce said, the owner of Hoss’s Country Corner.
Everywhere you look, there’s destruction in Long Lake. Many photos and videos show the rushing water and destruction left behind by a terrible thunderstorm.
Pierce said many local businesses, including the Adirondack Hotel, are flooded with phone calls from hopeful visitors.
“The phone rings constantly asking if we’re open, what’s happening, and what’s happening?” Ken Kovalewski said, one of the hotel owners.
Kovalewski and his partner, Jennifer Jurczak, said everyone’s lost revenue.
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“I’d say about almost $10,000 a day,” Kovalewski said.
“It’s been gone down by half. I’m not going to lie. We were having a great start to the summer, but the weather has affected everybody,” Pierce said.
Long Lake is open and ready for customers. They’re posting on Facebook about the events going on around town.
The town supervisor, Clay Arsenault, said businesses rely on summer tourism.
“Everybody in town has a couple of months to make money. It’s been challenging, to say the least, but we are certainly open for business.”
Crews are working around the clock to assess the damage, clean up the debris and repair the roads and bridges.
Route 28N is one of the most prominent spots crews are repairing. The road buckled just a few miles from Long Lake’s city center.
“This is our time to have people come. We want people to come and enjoy it. They have been working their butts off to make sure everything is ready to go,” Jurczak said.
The town is still assessing all the damage from the storm. Arsenault said they don’t have an exact estimate of how much it will cost to fix the damage, but he knows it will be a ton of money.