Three weeks ago, her business was hit by flooding. It happened again on Tuesday.

Maria Vance was about to reopen her small business in St. Johnsbury, Vermont, on Tuesday, when the rains started pouring — again.

“This is insane. I never thought this would happen, especially twice in one month,” Vance said in a telephone interview Tuesday. “It’s insane.”

Just three weeks ago, the remnants of Hurricane Beryl tore through the area, causing devastating flooding and destroying much of Vance’s custom printing business.

On July 11, that storm pushed 5 feet (1.67 meters) of water from the nearby Passumpsic River into the former Grange Hall on Memorial Drive, where she operates cheaptotes.com.

“I lost all of our inventory, most of our machinery and just a lot of equipment,” she said. “We only bought the business three years ago, so we really have no choice — we have to get back to business.”

They set to work clearing the thick mud that covered the first floor of the old Grange Hall. They brought in new machinery and replenished their supplies. The plan was to be fully operational again by Tuesday.

But what she expected to be a light rain shower turned into a torrent. Vance’s husband made his way to St. Johnsbury early Tuesday morning and moved some of the equipment to a higher level out of harm’s way, she said. But the mud has returned.

“There’s only a quarter inch of water on the floor, but there’s a lot of mud,” Vance said. “So in that way it’s not as bad as last time. But we have to clean up all the mud again. So much mud.”

In addition to cleaning up, Vance must figure out how to salvage the two shipping containers she was storing her inventory in. One ended up in the middle of Memorial Road, and the other hangs precariously over the river. Only a telephone wire keeps her from plunging into the water, she said.

“I don’t know what to do about it,” she said.

Last year, Vance said, the company generated $500,000. Its weather-related losses for the first seven months of 2024 are $200,000, she said.

Vance said she bought the business after working at the company for four years. She was able to buy the operation with financing from two banks. Both told her she wouldn’t need flood insurance, she said.

After she was inundated by floodwaters in early July, banks delayed mortgage payments for three months. Vance said she is hoping for some federal help to get her finances and her business back on track.

“So we’re down more than half of what we would normally make in a year,” she said. “Yeah. So, not good.”

On Tuesday, Vance and her family weren’t rushing to restock their supplies. She’s worried about the weather.

“The next three days it looks like it’s going to rain more and more, right?” she said. “It’s not a good time to be a small business owner in St. Johnsbury.”

John R. Ellement can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him @JREbosglobe.