Riverside too close to river's side

MONTICELLO, Ind. (WLFI) - For the third time since January 2008, Riverside Restaurant manager Jeff Jordan said his business is too close to the Tippecanoe River for his liking.

"This morning it wasn't quite to the tree here but now it's on the sidewalk so it's coming up," he said as he closely watched water approaching the front sidewalk of the business in Monticello.

The last two times the Norway Dam unleashed massive floodwaters directly downstream, the restaurant became part of the river.

"Last year we lost just about everything that was inside the building," Jordan said.

For more than 20 years what has normally been a peaceful view of the river from afar, has turned into a nervous stare at rising water as it climbs to within inches of the floor and floods the outdoor patio. Jordan said he is getting tired of wearing waders to his restaurant.

"Yeah, it's getting to be the attire now, I'll probably be wearing these the next couple days as we clean up out the parking lot and the deck area there," he said.

Jordan said he and his staff are too familiar with evacuating and repairing the Riverside after last year's floods, and hopes to never do it again.

"It's getting old. It's getting real old. We'll do it again, but if it gets on the inside I don't know, I don't know how many more times we can go through it," he said.