George Estes, left, and Michael Smolen stand behind Julio’s Cantina in Montpelier on the morning of July 11, 2024. Photo by Juan Vega de Soto/VTDigger
MONTPELIER— Pausing for a moment to lean on his water broom, George Estes surveyed the flooded basement of Julio’s Cantina in Montpelier.
“I mean, last year it was up to here,” he said, raising his hand to the ceiling. “So at least this time it’s not in the restaurant.”
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Estes and several other employees of the restaurant were in good spirits as they mopped up the damage from last night’s storms. Overnight, the rising north branch of the Winooski river poured about a foot of water into the basements of several businesses along State Street — but Julio’s employees were relieved it wasn’t worse.
“This is the best-case scenario,” they repeated to each other as they worked. “We’re really lucky.”
“Yesterday, we moved out all the stuff on the basement floor and filled up a U-Haul,” said Krista Simonds, the restaurant’s general manager.
The alarming weather forecasts in the days leading up to last night’s rains — and the specter of last year’s devastation — meant the business took every precaution to minimize harm.
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“Happy anniversary,” said Michael Smolen, a bartender at Julio’s. “On this day last year we were in here, too.”
“This is my fifth flood,” Estes laughed. “It’s just going to happen every time it rains hard.”
Read the story on VTDigger here: In Montpelier, Julio’s Cantina employees breath a cautious sigh of relief.