The small town of Cook is still cleaning up after all the flooding

COOK, Minn. — Many communities across Minnesota are still dealing with the aftermath of devastating floods.

That includes popular summer spots up north. The small town of Cook near Lake Vermilion is one of those spots. Many of the city's historic businesses are now trying to clean up and restore what flood waters washed away.

The Comet Theater first opened in 1939 and now it's closed indefinitely after being hit by flooding.

"It makes me want to cry because of the history of the place," said Shelly Lavinka, whose family owns and manages The Comet.

Torrential rain pummeled the region last month. Six to eight inches of rain fell in roughly 12 hours. Flooding river street for the first time in 50 years. Lavinka said crews drained nearly 300,000 gallons of water from the theater.

"The theater seats were the old ones. We tried to save them by steam cleaning, but we were just afraid because the water was so toxic," said Lavinka.

Lavinka hopes The Comet can re-open next summer.

The flood waters also hit the town's library, bank, laundromat, pharmacy and more.

"We're so small. The town is just over 500 people. This is sometimes the only place for some of these services," said Crystal Whitney with the Cook County Public Library.

St. Louis County is home to 200,000 Minnesotans.

"Right now we're looking at about 14 million dollars in infrastructure damage," said Josh Brinkman St. Louis County emergency Services Director. "14 million dollars is huge, and these dollars are not just for county but for townships that have a budget of, the smaller ones, maybe $50K to $80K a year."

Shelly Lavinka says she can already feel the love from the community.

"It just makes me know that if people want it back, then it gives me more positive energy to be able to do it bigger and better," said Lavinka.