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Revenue in Grafton is down 80% due to flooding, mayor says

The mayor of Grafton said the city has lost hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue since the flooding began.

GRAFTON, Illinois — After 11 years with Grafton Harbor, Brad Rucker got his captain's license for the 2019 tourism season, but he hasn't put it to use yet. The river is closed to tourists while they wait for the crest.

"It's weird seeing our restaurant higher than all these buildings," Rucker said. "The flood] is cutting our short season even shorter, probably in half."

Peter Allen's restaurant is open but profits are on ice.

"It's going to be nearly a million dollars lost in eight weeks, closed in primetime season," Allen said.

Everyone's watching the waterline, which has been fluctuating. The Nutwood levee breach dropped levels in Grafton, but they rose again.

"We talked about the fear of repeating '93," Allen said. "There were multiple crests, which is possible that could happen again."

While the water comes in waves, revenue has only gone one direction: down. Mayor Rick Eberline said they'll need help pumping resources back into the city.

"We've lost hundreds of thousands of dollars at our overnight stay places, revenue that we'll never get made back up," Eberline said. "But if those people should look at their schedules and say we missed out here, we're going to come back, we're going to welcome everybody with open arms. We need everybody to help us recover."

Eberline said he hopes the city will be open again for the Fourth of July celebrations, their busiest weekend of the year.

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Contact reporter Sara Machi on Facebook and Twitter.

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