Route 1: Long road back

Jalapeno pizzas popped out of the oven at Prince Pizzeria & Bar when the restaurant reopened, three days after swollen rivers and ponds spilled onto Route 1 and forced businesses up and down the highway to close.

The Chitalia family of Hudson, N.H., gobbled up the two large pizzas after driving more than an hour to reach the storied Saugus restaurant. ‘‘Once we heard they were open, we came right down,’’ said Amit Chitalia, a newly graduated medical doctor who was treating his parents to the meal.

Flood waters have receded on Route 1, but now business owners face a hard road to recovery. Tens of thousands of dollars of revenue, products, and wages were lost due to the extended closing of parts of Route 1 from Revere to Topsfield.

Prom gown shops, a sports collectible dealer, and even an animal feed supplier are among the dozens of businesses along the commercial corridor challenged with recouping their losses. Most don’t have flood insurance, and it’s unclear who will qualify for federal disaster aid if it becomes available.

‘‘We’ve been here since 1917,’’ said Gerry Cicchetti, a buyer at the Essex County Cooperative, a nonprofit agriculture store on Route 1 in Topsfield. ‘‘Until now, we’ve never had to close because Route 1 was flooded.’’

A spokesman for the state Highway Department could not say if Route 1 north of Boston had ever been closed for more than a day. ‘‘It hasn’t happened in recent memory,’’ said Jon Carlisle, the MassHighway spokesman. ‘‘It couldn’t be avoided. Parts of the road were not safe for travel.’’

The state agency began shutting down parts of the local stretch of Route 1, which winds from the Tobin Bridge north to Salisbury, on Monday during the height of a storm that dumped more than 10 inches of rain on many parts of the region. As of late Thursday, a section of Route 1 near Route 97 in Topsfield remained under water. Another flooded stretch, near the Walnut Street exit in Saugus, opened midweek.

Carlisle said MassHighway closed Route 1 from Copeland Circle in Revere to the Route 128 exit in Peabody because state roads around them, such as Route 60 in Revere, were better able to handle heavy traffic than local roads. ‘‘It wouldn’t be practical to put all that traffic onto local roads,’’ he said.

Still, the closing created a three-day drought for area businesses. Prince Pizzeria, whose dining rooms, parking lot, and storage shed filled with water, pegs losses at $30,000. The tally includes the cost of tossing out 800 pounds of pizza cheese, 40 giant bags of flour, 30 cases of beer, and boxes of plates, cups, and napkins.

‘‘We’re out a lot of money,’’ said owner Steve Castraberti, standing in his parking lot, half of which was still under water on Wednesday. ‘‘The Saugus River is pretty much a lazy river. Our parking lot has flooded before but never our restaurant.’’

Elsewhere on Route 1, where the road was not flooded, the closing also hurt businesses.

‘‘I am unhappy about what happened,’’ said Jimmy Christopher, owner of Brothers Kouzina, a Greek-American restaurant that opened in February on Route 1 in Peabody, just north of the 128 exit. ‘‘There was no flood here, but I still had to close. No one could get to us.’’

Christopher said the losses continued to mount, even after the highway reopened midday Wednesday. ‘‘I had to send five employees home because no one was here,’’ he said. ‘‘I felt bad ... The restaurant business is delicate. When you open, you have to cook for the day. I lost all that food.’’

Across the way, Spinelli’s Pasta & Pastry Shop also sustained no flooding, despite its perch overlooking Suntaug Lake in Lynnfield. Still, the business had to cancel a function on Tuesday night. ‘‘We have to reimburse them,’’ said Rhonda Dean, the general manager. ‘‘We’re glad to be back in full swing.’’

But the damages are likely to be greatest on Route 1 in Saugus, where some businesses are still adding up their losses.

Angelique’s, a dress boutique at the Saugus Plaza, hoped to reopen Friday. The shop had to throw out six racks of prom gowns. ‘‘It could have been worse,’’ said store manager Tina Thomas, trying to make herself heard over blowers drying the shop’s soggy rug. ‘‘We didn’t lose any dresses girls had already ordered. As soon as the water started to come in Sunday, we raised all the dresses up high.’’

On Route 1 north, Sportsworld owner Phil Castinetti also moved precious stock to higher ground. On Sunday night, he dashed to the store to move a new collection of Carl Yastrzemski baseball cards from a display in the front window, along with other sports memorabilia.

‘‘I had butterflies in my stomach driving down there,’’ said Castinetti, who moved his store to Saugus from downtown Everett in December.

‘‘We had a leak in the roof when we first moved in, and I was afraid it would start again. But it was fine ... I still moved everything up high and away from the windows.’’

Sportsworld lost no stock. And, driving the back roads, Castinetti never closed his store. Still, no customers came on Monday or Tuesday. And the phones, which usually are busy with collectors making orders, were too quiet.

‘‘Very few people called,’’ said Castinetti, who has been in business for 20 years. ‘‘For two solid days, we had no customers. That’s never happened before. Ever.’’

Kathy McCabe can be reached at kmccabe@globe.com