After over 100 years, a community landmark in Cook, MN is in danger of shutting its doors after flood waters ravaged the city.

The building, which has stood since 1908, houses the Montana Café. On Tuesday night, June 18, heavy rainwater flooded the crawlspace. Owners were able to pump the water out, but by the following evening, floodwaters from the swelling Little Fork River swamped the building, with 12 inches of standing water throughout the entire café.

While some inventory and equipment were able to be saved, much of it had to be abandoned. An initial inspection by a contractor found that due to the age and excessive moisture, repairs could be difficult.

Megan Strong has owned the Montana Café since 2018. After rescuing some of her inventory, she was able to open a pop-up stand outdoors to help sell of some of it. However, authorities have barred her from reentering the building, citing concerns about the structural integrity. City officials have hired a structural engineer to assess damage, however he has not yet been able to inspect the building.

Strong says her insurance policy won’t pay for the damage.

“It seems like a total loss. My insurance said that it seems I’m not covered by flood. They won’t be covering any of the damages. So, it’s hard to decide and like kind of figure out where we’re going to go from there.” Strong said.

The building has housed a café since 1970.

“I’ve taken it as a loss. And a lot of other people in town are pretty emotional about it, just because it’s such like a landmark.”

Community members have stepped up to help Strong out, with volunteers helping to empty the building out, and a local grocery store storing some of the saved inventory.

A GoFundMe donation was started by Strong’s sister Krystal Brodeen. It’s currently raised over $15,000.

On Saturday, June 29, a Federal Disaster was declared throughout 22 different counties in Minnesota, due to the extensive flooding.