“The first week after it happened, we must have had 20 people come down saying, ‘I’ve got a chainsaw,’ or ‘I’ve got a tractor.’ It made us feel really good,” said Leb Upchurch, owner of The Fish Net, a popular family restaurant near Lake Park that re-opened its doors Thursday after extensive storm damage forced the business to close in February.

It has been 12 weeks since a strong cold front brought with it straight-line winds that knocked down trees and damaged several homes and buildings along White Water Road, Loch Laurel Road, Sportsman Cove Road and others. The Fish Net was one of the buildings hit hardest by the storm.

“We had two trees fall. One fell in the front. One fell in the back,” said Upchurch. “The one on the front punctured the roof. The one in the back crushed the walk-in cooler, the back porch and a portion of the kitchen.”

Without a cooler and missing some of its kitchen, the restaurant had to close for the first time since it opened in 1978. Upchurch said it took about three to four weeks for insurance money to arrive for repairs and another nine weeks to get repairs completed.

“A lot of those delays were due to rain. You would get started on something, and then it would start to pour,” said Upchurch, “but I’ve been pleased with the adjuster, the insurance company and everyone I have worked with.”

Upchurch got a little help from a former employee who started an online campaign to help raise money for the repairs.

“I do want to say thank you to Luke Voigt. He’s the one who started the online donation effort, and I want to say thank you to him and everyone who contributed,” said Upchurch. “We were able to use that money because the insurance didn’t cover everything.”

The Fish Net re-opened Thursday afternoon with a reconstructed back porch and a brand-new walk-in cooler. Despite growing accustomed to time away from the restaurant, Upchurch said he is excited to return to work.

“I worried that I wouldn’t want to go back. We’ve been here 22 years, and never can I remember when we had more than one weekend off at a time,” said Upchurch. “But I’m feeling the excitement seeing the people again. My family is here, my wife, my daughter, my son. It’s enjoyable.”

The Fish Net is open for dinner until 9:30 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday, and has returned with its most popular special.

“We always do all-you-can-eat fish for $12.95,” said Upchurch.