ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Businesses were still recovering Monday from Tropical Storm Ophelia.
Storm Bros. Ice Cream Factory was left cleaning up a mess and it wasn't from a spilled treat.
"I was like well looks like I’m not working, looks like I’m just cleaning up,” said Alexandra Currence who is the Assistant Manager at Storm Bros. Ice Cream Factory.
It was the unwanted surprise Currence walked up to see when reporting for work Sunday.
Water covered the street and sidewalk, spilling into doorways, leaving some businesses at City Dock no choice but to close for the day. It was a loss of revenue for many.
"We had to put a board up because it was going over top the sand bags. We were measuring every 30 minutes and the highest it was 6 and half inches when we got here,” said Currence.
It's an area that's already prone to flooding.
"Over the few years we've seen a documented rise in the water that we have that is directly attributed to climate change," said Nicole Torres, Public Information Officer with the Annapolis Office of Emergency Management.
She says the city has installed pumps that alleviate most of the issues with flooding. But when water levels are high combined with wind, the problem continues.
Now, the city is in the process of its next project to mitigate the overflow of water, the reconstructing of City Dock.
"We're going to create a grassy area where Susan Campbell Park is. It'll be in several terraces that'll help with rain water run off and it'll raise it several feet as well. We'll have walls that will be installed, and it'll create an overall entertainment area as well,” said Torres.
Construction is scheduled to begin in 2025. But in the meantime, waterfront businesses are left to weather the storms.
