Businesses Hit Hard By Cockeysville Flood

Early Thursday morning, local business owners stood outside their storefronts on York Road near the intersection of Beaver Run Lane assessing the damage left behind by recent flooding.

“We’ve been in this location for 14 years, but this is probably the worst yet,” said Ed Murphy, owner of . “This area floods quite a bit, but it's been getting worse. I expected it to be bad, but not this bad.”

Murphy wasn’t able to get into the store because of heavy flooding enveloping the storefront. He said he was most concerned about the damage that may have occurred to the customers’ cars.

“We’ve got cars to work on and we can’t do it,” Murphy said.

But he does anticipate opening up after an assessment of the damage. Other businesses aren’t so lucky.

owner Ozzie Mehdizadeh plans to close his restaurant.

“We’re done,” Mehdizadeh said. “The damage is too much. There is at least three feet of water in the store.”

Before the most recent storms struck, Mehdizadeh had just finished $25,000 worth of renovations following damage from a July 7 flood. Contractor John Heagy had his staff finish the carpeting at Side Street Café on Wednesday morning.

“This was a 100-year flood,” Heagy said. “It wasn’t supposed to happen.”

Still, Mehdizadeh is trying to keep his spirits up.

“Do you have a million dollars?” he joked. “I’ll open up again if you give me a million dollars.”

Stuart Munsell, owner of S&S Appliance Outlet, also intends to shut down his business.

“I got into the store this morning and we’re done,” Munsell said. “The appliances are trashed. We lost everything.”

Munsell took over the former Longo’s Appliance Service, which had existed for 25 years, six months ago. He said this is the second time his business has flooded.

Even stores that didn’t sustain too much damage from the floods are also hurting because of the road closures in the area.

“We’re ready to open, but there’s no business,” said A.J. Rutch, area supervisor of . “We’re waiting on word from the state to find out when we can open up.”

is also unable to open, but Andy Nelson Jr., one of the owners, is just grateful the restaurant wasn’t too badly hit.

“We were very fortunate,” Nelson said. “We just had some mud to clean up.”

Nelson, however, isn’t even attempting to open Andy’s on Thursday.

“Open Friday Lord Willing” reads a sign near the storefront.