GUTTENBERG, Iowa — Samantha Trentz says she and her family have ridden quite the emotional rollercoaster since buying Millennium Bar and Marina in 2019.
"Everyone said that we would have flooding in our business but I did not expect it to be our very first year," Trentz said. "But we actually closed 19 of 52 weeks that year... and then the second year brought us COVID. So we all know how that went. The third year was a record drought, you could actually see the bottom of the river from our Marina, so no boat traffic at all. Year four brought us record inflation."
That brings us to 2023, and Trentz and her family bracing for what the rising river will do to their business.
"We're at the point now where we're going to have to redo all electrical, our garage doors. Everything is completely ruined," Trentz said."So definitely not completely expected. And of course, this is the start of your busy season."
Meanwhile, roughly an hour north on Esmann Island, Bob Buhrow says he and his wife are laying low at their home, especially since they can't leave unless by boat.
Buhrow says the causeway has been underwater since Sunday morning.
"We've got some neighbors out here that have flat bottom boats that some guys are still go into work every day," Buhrow said. "They boat across and go to work and then get in their boat when they get home and come back over. There's not a lot of them up here doing that, but there are a few. So we do have access to [transport] if we need the bread and milk and that sort of thing."
Buhrow says he and his wife are using the time to get to work on some projects around the home.