WIMBERLEY, Texas – Businesses in Wimberley are still recovering after the deadly flood over Memorial Day weekend last year.
Though sales tax data shows business carried on, outpacing the same time period for the prior year, two local businesses said they had their own troubles.
Sitting on the high end of Wimberley Square, The Old Mill Store suffered only minor water damage from rains rather than flooding. That doesn’t mean it didn’t suffer.
Rhett Ryan, whose family owns the store, called the flood devastating to business. The store has a lot of local customers, but in the summer it relies on tourists.
WATCH: Drone footage of flooded areas: Then and now
“It was terrible,” Ryan said. "People just didn’t come to town. They kind of thought we weren’t here anymore."
He said business is now close to normal, as people like Holly Guerin and her daughter Evelyn, who stopped in for ice cream, visit again.
"To tell you the truth, it doesn’t seem much different,” said Holly Guerin, who was visiting from New Braunfels. "Everything ... bounced back. I don’t see any evidence that it’s been damaged. Everything is wonderful.”
Still, visitors need places to stay, like Ramsay House Bed & Breakfast, run by Cynthia Ramsay and her husband. Ater the river flooded, the bed-and-breakfast was off the market and under repair for six months.
“It was devastating,” Ramsay said. “Eleven feet of water. Everything downstairs was ruined.”
Ramsay said now they’re booked every weekend and a lot during the week, too.
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“We’re just so grateful that we have our health, and that we’re happy, and we’re just looking to the future,” she said.
Ryan, however, is looking to the cloudy sky, hoping last year’s rains and troubles stay in the past
"Especially for people who lost so much that they’re really kind of a little bit on edge,” he said.