Village Bakery in Sebastopol closed indefinitely due to flood damage

Customers who love the breakfast goodies, soups and sandwiches available at Sebastopol's Village Bakery in The Barlow will have to make their way to the popular cafe's Santa Rosa location for the time being as there is no timetable for reopening after last week's devastating floods.

Also at a loss are the 200 retail accounts serviced by the bakery, from the Stark Reality Restaurants to grocery stores such as Andy's Produce Market, Manager Lisa Schroeder said.

“This is something you don't have a manual for,” she said as she surveyed the damage Monday. “It's overwhelming.”

Luckily, the large-scale ovens used to bake bread were not damaged by the water.

In a Friday Facebook post, bakery owner Patrick Lum said he had laid off 60 employees in a "heartbreaking" move.

“We appreciate the outpouring of love and support our community has shown us over the last 48 hours,” the post read.

The flooding affected businesses in the tourist hot spots of Sebastopol and the Guerneville area.

Sonoma County provided initial estimates over the weekend that 578 businesses suffered a total of $35 million in damages.