'I got knocked down too:' Flood of water rushed into NKY florist shop

A Northern Kentucky family-owned florist and garden center was busy cleaning up water damage Wednesday after high water from rainfall gushed in window-high on Tuesday.

Heavy rainfall created high water conditions for drivers and damaged some residences and businesses Tuesday in areas including Covington, Fort Wright, Erlanger and Elsmere.

"It was like being in one of those action movies, I mean there was just water coming in from everywhere," said Chris Rauf, an employee at Jackson Florist and Garden Center on Madison Pike south of Covington. "It was super strong. I got knocked down too."

Pallets and heavy bags were floating, Rauf said. He said a runoff area behind the building got clogged with a bunch of logs and mud from the hillside.

"We had water inside above the windows," said owner Tony Works. "The back end is the same way. it's all, everything was water."

Volunteers showed up to help and a professional water cleanup company has been called in, Works said. "As you can see, the merchandise, it's just almost everything is shot," he said. "It's almost as if everything has to be dumped."

The florist carries a lot of expensive items, Works said. "There's a lot of high-class merchandise in there."

Blackberry the cat was in a downstairs office when it flooded.

"He was terrified," said Dawn Evans.  "I grabbed him and put him on the tallest filing cabinet I could find."

When the water started going down, Evans said she took Blackberry to their warehouse. He's OK.

The floral business in the Kenton County city of Kenton Vale has been in the same spot since the 1890s and thanked customers in a Facebook post for an outpouring of support. The post said the shop would be closed for at least several days and reopen soon.

Enquirer reporter Chris Mayhew contributed to this story.