McCaysville bookstore owner unsure about reopening after flood

Share Add Us On Google Add as a preferred source on Google ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) — The owner of Last Stop Bookshop in McCaysville said she does not know whether she can reopen in the city after the Toccoa River flooded her store last week. Five days after the flooding, McCaysville remains an active work zone, with volunteers and first responders mucking out businesses and homes. Amanda Miller, a former educator, opened the mostly used bookstore in September 2025. “There’s nothing better than a job in a bookstore,” Miller said. Her inventory was decimated by the flood. “We really couldn’t get in, the floor was just coated in books, like big swollen paperbacks across the whole floor,” she said. No flood insurance Miller said she did not have flood insurance because it was too expensive. She said she has not spoken to a shop owner in McCaysville who had flood insurance. “It’s too expensive, I sell used books so the margins on that, you can imagine are not high,” she said. “I’m not making a lot of money in this, it really is a passion project.” Miller said November was her best month last year. Without tourist dollars, she does not know whether she can reopen in McCaysville. “If that train isn’t running or isn’t stopping because there are no businesses here, there are no restaurants here, is it feasible to reopen here? We just don’t know,” she said. Miller plans to reopen the shop in McCaysville or elsewhere. Volunteers help with cleanup Volunteers from Hemptown Baptist Church helped muck out the shop Sunday. “People are pretty great,” Miller said. Miller has set up a GoFundMe . Copyright 2026 WANF. All rights reserved.