Harper's Books was one of several Lebanon Square merchants in Lebanon, Tenn., that were forced to shut down temporarily following the heavy rainfall on March 27-28 that brought as much as 32 inches of floodwater to the area, the Wilson Post reported.
Owner James Kamer said the store would probably be closed "a few weeks" after the flood resulted in substantial damage to inventory, flooring and shelving. "We got hit hard. Of course, just the sheer nature of being a bookstore, books don't fare well with water."
Although he had water damage insurance for the bookstore, it does not cover flooding. "I got zero," Kamer said. "I got nothing from insurance. Coming off 2020, which was a rough year anyways, it was a kick in the teeth to hear that." A GoFundMe campaign has been set up to help with the recovery.
Harper's Books has been chronicling the post-flood challenges on the shop's Facebook page ever since the first morning after. In an update yesterday, Kamer noted: "We have cleared all inventory from the floor. This weekend we should be able to move all salvageable fixtures into storage so we can begin removing the ruined flooring. I will keep everyone updated on where we are, but right now it looks like we are still some time away from fully reopening. Thanks again to all who have shown their support for us. I am eternally grateful for the people in this community who have reached out to help us while we are down. Fun fact to end on: The picture below is of our back room. It now contains 646 small moving boxes and 42 plastic 10 gallon totes. I am estimating that we were able to save about 19,000 books."