Tuesday night’s storm brought heavy rain and high winds to Connecticut, causing coastal and inland flooding.
On Wednesday morning, communities along the Norwalk River were cleaning up from the damage.
Sandy Baldanza and his wife, Angela, have owned The Schoolhouse restaurant on the bank of the Norwalk River in Wilton for three years. The building is more than 120 years old — it was a schoolhouse in the 1800s.
It’s surrounded by buildings equally as old, and just as vulnerable, to the rising tide of the river.
Baldanza said the river had flooded the basement at least eight times. But he said he has never seen the river as high as it was on Wednesday morning.
“When I got here, I was just cringing on how much water we'd have,” Baldanza said. “The only good part is the basement has nothing in it only because we know it gets flooded easily.”
Baldanza said he’s working with his landlord to build a retaining wall between the river and the hatch that leads to the basement. He’s also working on replacing a fence and the air conditioning system because of the flooding, and their back patio will need to be repaired.
Even though the property floods, Baldanza said he’s happy there.
“The restaurant is rated one of the best restaurants in the state," Baldanza said. "All my people have been with me since day one. The service is great and the food is great.”
And even though it can cause problems, they have come to love the river.
“As much as we love the river, it's a bit of our enemy as well,” Baldanza said. “It’s a love-hate relationship.”
