CINCINNATI — Multiple businesses, especially in Hyde Park and Mount Lookout, are closed after massive flooding from heavy downpours Friday.
Neko Sushi, located just around the corner from Hyde Park Square, was one of the businesses flooded. Owner Yeon Kim told us this is the fifth time her restaurant has been flooded since 2018.
"It was around 5:30, and I knew it's going to flood again, so I called police and 911," Kim said.
Sewage water overtook Kim's kitchen and dining room. She also says the water pressure from a metro bus driving through the flooded road blew out her front door's window.
Kim says she has flood insurance, but worries her claim could be denied because of the restaurant's history of flooding.
"The city needs to reevaluate the sewage problem," Kim said. "There's so many of our business has been flood, and then we do have a problem, and that's ultimately, they need to claim."
WATCH: We talk with Neko Sushi's owners about the restaurant's history of flooding
Kim said having only two sewage drains near her business is the main issue, which she said leaves her nervous any time there is heavy rain. She said she has reached out to city council several times, but there has been no resolution.
Hyde Park's Dovetale Bakery, which just opened in April, also said on social media that it was closed Saturday due to flooding. A WCPO crew saw multiple large fans drying out the bakery's floor after flooding.
RELATED | PHOTOS: Heavy downpours leave Cincinnati neighborhoods flooded in minutes
Poeme, a stationery store on Michigan Avenue by Hyde Park Square, also sustained severe flooding due to the rain. The store's owner, Kristen Folzenlogen, posted to social media saying Poeme would be closed Saturday due to damage but would reopen Tuesday.
"Many businesses in the area have been affected. Please show your support by visiting the square next week," Folzenlogen wrote.
Folzenlogen said the flooding only affected the store's basement, but it would take the weekend to clean up.
She also shared multiple videos with us showing the full extent of the water damage.
Poeme had water rushing into the basement from the ceiling, leading to about six inches of water sitting on the basement floor. The flooding and rain also caused the pipes of a basement sink to spew water.
“Within 30 seconds or a minute it started coming up like a water fountain through the cracks in the floor…(butted) I just couldn’t believe how fast it was coming in, and the sink in the basement was overflowing, and then the pipes above started to rain down," she said.
WATCH: We talk with a Hyde Park business owner about the extent of damage in their store
While Poeme's basement is some of the worst damage the store and Folzenlogen have personally dealt with, she said several other businesses around Hyde Park Square have it much worse — and much more often.
“It’s a continual problem. Our sewage systems can’t handle this type of density in such a short period of time, and I hope the City of Cincinnati starts to pay attention,” Folzenlogen said.
She also said the issue needs to be solved before ground is broken on the new Hyde Park development near the square, or else flooding will be worse.
“That project is gonna happen exactly where this extensive flooding occurred, and I hope that the City of Cincinnati, Hyde Park neighborhood council, the business district and the developer work diligently to solve this water issue before any ground is broken," she said.
Over in Mount Lookout, Zip's Cafe on Delta Avenue posted to Facebook on Friday, saying it will be closed through the weekend due to flooding.
The restaurant, which just celebrated its 100th anniversary, said its remediation company will "work their magic" over the weekend and assess the situation from there.
"We have done a lot of work to shore up this old building, but it just wasn't enough for that storm," the restaurant's owners wrote in the post.
VV The Italian Experience, another restaurant on Delta Avenue, closed early Friday due to the severe weather, according to a social media post. The restaurant said Saturday morning that it would need to stay closed "for a few more days" due to the flooding.
"Unfortunately, due to last night's severe weather, we have experienced some temporary issues and we need to remain closed for a few more days while our team completes the necessary cleanup and repairs," the post reads.
A WCPO crew spoke with people cleaning up the restaurant Saturday after the flooding. They also shared videos with us that show flooding in VV's kitchen as well as water seeping through the ceiling into the basement.
Another video shared with us shows the rapids of rainwater and flooding that went by the restaurant along Delta Avenue.
WCPO 9 Good Morning Tri-State anchor Frank Marzullo also walked throughout Mount Lookout Square on Saturday to get a look at the flooding aftermath.
WATCH: Frank Marzullo shows how high flooding reached in Mount Lookout businesses
