Mission Cultural Center, Adobe Books and Medicine for Nightmares are seeking help in storm recovery

Last week’s storm is over, but problems linger at several Mission businesses.

A cure for nightmaresThe bookstore at 24th Street and Treat Avenue is having a “slightly wet book sale” after last Friday’s flood.

Water coming in from a leaking skylight damaged “a huge amount of our inventory,” said co-owner Josiah Luis Alderete. Alderete and about a dozen supporters from the “bookstore family” — customers who call the store their home — threw out the books too damaged to save and left the rest of the wet books in the back of the store.

It includes hundreds of titles on gender studies, environmental issues, and Asian American and Pacific Islander history, among many others, available to those willing to pay what they can.

Owning a wet book is not that strange, the bookstore says on Instagram. “Remember Roberto Bolaño took his book with him in the shower,” it said, referring to the famous Chilean author. Just put the book in the sun or bake it in the oven for two minutes, the bookstore adds.

Likewise Adobe Books & Arts Cooperative, located two blocks from Shotwell and 24th Street, is offering 50 percent off all of its books, though some are now warped and damp. The sale runs through December 1st, and some books in the store are now available for $1, $4, or $6.

Around noon Friday, “I got a call from one of the guys at work and he said, ‘Oh, you know, there’s a little leak.’ And suddenly: ‘Wait, it’s growing! It’s about to get bigger! It’s getting bigger!” said volunteer Johnny Fellman.

Water just trickled through the roof.

Later in the afternoon, a plumber cut open the roof of the store and found a blocked drain, but water had already flooded several rooms. Fellman turned off the power when he saw water coming from the light sockets.

The store ended up being closed until Monday. They lost some books. At the same time, ordinary books on the shelves began to curl after being warped by the humidity of the air.

“We saved probably close to 100 gallons of water,” Fellman said. “We’re having a big sale to try and get some money together.”

for Latino Arts Cultural Center Mission at 2868 Mission St. near 25th St., last Thursday night’s flooding is likely to linger into the new year.

Like many buildings on the block, the MCCLA building shares a sewer with the city, according to center director Dr. Martina Ayala. The storm drain didn’t have a cover on it when the storm hit and soon filled up with debris, said Ayala, who believes it’s the city’s responsibility to make sure covers are on the drains and avoid accumulated debris.