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"This is just devastating:" Luisa's Pizza in Wheatland still closed due to flooding

Posted at 12:36 PM, Jul 17, 2017
and last updated 2017-07-17 16:17:38-04
TOWN OF WHEATLAND -- Areas of Kenosha County hit hard by last week's floods continue to recover.
At Luisa's Pizza in Wheatland, owner Paul De Luisa said the water filled up his seven foot-tall basement. 
 
On Monday morning, the water level had dropped. That meant part of the restaurant's parking lot asphalt, previously covered by floodwater, was once again visible. 
 
The restaurant has been closed since last week, and De Luisa said the best case scenario is to re-open in two to three weeks. 
 
"I have thirty employees who aren't working right now," De Luisa said. "This affects them all, and I just, I need to get them back to work. This is just devastating."
 
Worst case scenario? It could be two months before Luisa's Pizza reopens, he said. 
 
De Luisa said he hoped a restoration company would be arriving Monday to begin pumping out the basement. 
 
He said once the water is clear, the basement will have to be dried and an electrician will have to examine all the wiring.
 
The basement contains everything from decades-old paperwork, to a furnace, to a soda mixing machine. 
 
Bill Glembocki, the Town of Wheatland's chairman, said De Luisa is one of many residents still struggling to recover from the flooding -- even if the waters have started to recede. 
 
"We're into the hundreds of people," Glembocki said.
 
On Monday, he said he was slowly making his way to areas that are still flooded to try and assess the damage.
 
"Until this water goes down, I don't know the extent of all the damage and what we can do to help yet," he said. 
 
Glembocki added, in the meantime, the American Red Cross, the County and the State have helped with flood relief efforts.
 
De Luisa said he empathizes with some of his neighbors, who still have water inside their homes. 
 
He said those people remain in need of gift cards for gas and restaurants, where they can eat while their kitchens remain out of commission, as well as cleaning supplies.