Asheville brewery receives outpouring of community support following 'devastating' flood

ASHEVILLE - A brief but torrential summer rainstorm pummeled the city causing a local brewery to evacuate customers and call for the community’s help.

Robert Lemery, founder of River Arts District Brewing, said a “devastating” flood occurred when a creek near the brewery, at 13 Mystery St., overflowed around 4 p.m. on July 19.

He said total costs continue to rise as damage is assessed, and revenue suffered when the business had to close and limit its hours in the week following the event.

The silver lining has been the outpouring of community support, including other area craft breweries. Lemery said he wasn’t surprised because “it’s the nature of the craft beer community.”

“It doesn’t take away from how heartwarming and humbling it is,” Lemery said. “We’re all here for one another. We want everyone to have better days and make better beer.”

Asheville’s collaborative beer community helps stay connected through the Asheville Brewers Alliance, founded in 2009, which promotes and supports local craft beer and other beverage members, provides educational resources and assists during crisis.

Karis Roberts, ABA’s executive director, assisted with reaching out to local breweries asking them to sell beer wholesale to RAD Brewing so it could open for its popular Monday night trivia event and keep the staff working.

RAD Brewing employs six people including Lemery, four service staff members and a general manager.

“It was all hands on deck. Do what you can to help, and I think everyone who cares about RAD showed up,” Roberts said.

Rising tide

Lemery said a culvert opening clogged resulting in the water redirecting into the beer garden, then into the lower operating area of the building.

He said the water rose to an estimated 5 feet to the flood door, which was built to withstand the weight and rise of water before it breached the basement.

The flood waters and mud damaged the outdoor refrigerator in the basement, which he said took in about 5 feet of flood water.

“We did our best to try to save what was in the basement which was not much. It happened fast,” Lemery said.

Lemery said the team evacuated the customers once the water trickled through the flood door and cut off the electricity.

He said the upper-level taproom didn’t take in water, and customers safely reached their vehicles in the parking lot. The water began to recede once the rain ended and the drainage system caught up with water flow.

Brewing equipment on the upper level was unaffected but equipment critical for storing and serving the finished beer was damaged, including the refrigeration unit, keg washer, audio systems and draft service, packaging equipment and office equipment.

DSSOLVR, 12 Bones Brewing, Archetype Brewing, BearWaters Brewing Co. and Black Mountain Brewing are among the breweries that provided RAD Brewing beer. Wicked Weed Brewing picked up, washed and returned empty kegs to RAD.

Area breweries and beer service companies assisted with supplying products, storage, services and equipment, and community members aided in cleanup, showing up with tools, pressure washers and other cleaning supplies.

Vince Tursi, co-owner and head brewer at DSSOLVR said the downtown brewery provided RAD Brewing with requested beer styles at a dramatically discounted rate. He knows what it's like to be in the middle of a business season and impacted by forces outside one’s control.

“Everybody in this industry has dealt with a downed cooler so we know how awful it is, Tursi said, adding the community spirit helped draw him to Asheville.

Unpredictable weather conditions

Lemery said that on July 19, the rain began as a constant drizzle before the skies opened and poured down on the River Arts District. He said the storm lasted about 30 minutes, but about 10 minutes into the downpour the creek running alongside the property overflowed.

According to the National Weather Service meteorologist Doug Outlaw, Asheville had .29 inches of rain on July 19. No flash flood warning was reported.

As of July 29, the rainfall total was 8.99 inches for Asheville in July, which Outlaw said is nearly double the normal volume.

“It seems to be rampant now over Western North Carolina with all of the flash flooding happening constantly,” Roberts said. “I’m not sure what we can do to help our community but it’s one of those things wherever something does go down we should rally around each other and be there for support."

Flood prevention plan

On May 18, at the brewery’s first-anniversary event, Lemery said flood waters leaked into the basement and guests were evacuated from the beer garden.

“We had a taproom full of people a lot of which were regulars and friends," he said. "Without missing a beat, as soon as the water receded, everybody grabbed any implement they could and unclogged the drain and started squeegeeing the basement and doing the best we could to get it dry and continue on with our celebration.”

Lemery said he doesn’t know if the landowner or the city is responsible for the creek’s flooding, which he thinks could partly be caused by uphill construction.

"(It) is replacing absorbent, porous natural surface — grass, dirt — with concrete pavement and not accounting for how much stormwater runoff is going on.”

Lemery said flood insurance was not recommended to him and he's not hopeful for compensation after an insurance adjuster visit. He doesn't yet know the total cost of the damage.

Lemery said he and others have worked to keep the debris from the creek’s drainage system and they’re hopeful it will be enough to prevent backups as rain continues this season.

RAD Brewing launched a GoFundMe page to pay for damages and the staff’s lost wages.

River Arts District Brewing Company

Where: 13 Mystery St., Asheville.

Hours: Noon to 10 p.m. Sunday-Thursday.

Noon to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

Info: For more, visit theradbrewco.com. Follow on social media at @theradbrewco.

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Tiana Kennell is the food and dining reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA Today Network. Email her at [email protected] or follow her on Instagram @PrincessOfPage. Please support this type of journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times.

This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: 'Devastating' flood hits Asheville brewery, community rallies to help