With record-breaking floods hitting various parts of the region in the last month, a number of local businesses were significantly impacted after being forced to shut down operations to deal with the issue.

Among those businesses was J.A. Bowers restaurant in Mansfield et Pontefract which was forced to close for an entire week after water levels reached the perimeter of the building, eventually leaking through the foundation and flooding its basement.

According to the restaurant’s owner Jim Bowers, this year’s floods have been especially devastating to his business as he’s dedicated a large portion of his time towards keeping the waters at bay with 11 pumps running in the restaurant’s basement at all times.

Having owned the restaurant for 30 years, Bowers recalls the river rising fairly high in the 1970s, with water reaching the base of the building back then. However, he said that this year’s damages have been much more devastating, especially considering that the lodge is located on higher ground than it was back then.

“I’ve been here since ’89 and never had it like this,” he said.

Shut down for an entire week, employees were forced to throw out large amounts of food they had prepared before the floods hit the property, which had a big impact on Bowers’ bottom line.

But, since he owns the building outright, he believes that it’s the employees who took the brunt of the blow as it prevented them from their main source of income.

“It’s the employees that lost really,” he said. “There’s fifteen of them.”

While the restaurant’s insurance plan covers floods, Bowers isn’t certain that it will cover the entirety of the damage. Last week an engineer visited the restaurant to examine the building and provide an assessment on the situation, but no specific amount has been set in stone.

For Bowers the most difficult part of the ordeal has been putting in the effort to combat the floods, which tends to take up the majority of his time usually dedicated to the restaurant.

“It’s a job that you don’t need, you know,” he said. “This is a job for us. So, it’s a second job. You have to look after the business and then you have to do repairs to keep it going.”

Up the road at BMR, floods took a significant toll on business activity, as the store’s owners were forced to shut down from April 27 to May 1 in order to prevent the damage from this year’s floods.

According to store co-owner Connie Gutoskie. employees noticed that water levels were rising rapidly on April 27, which prompted them to empty the store’s surrounding warehouses of any material.

By the end of the day, the water had risen so high that employees and residents teamed up to put up a four and a half foot dike against the water around the perimeter of the property.

As a tool and home supply retailer, BMR had been serving a large portion of the population affected, by selling everything from pumps, to tie wraps and boots among other things.

The only problem was that, by the time the water had made it’s way into their buildings, they ended up selling most of the necessary equipment on site.

But, thanks to reliable suppliers like Battlefield Toromont and Rentquip, everything worked out fine at the end of the day.

“They literally made sure that we were taken care of,” she said. “They brought equipment in to us.”

With a large amount of water still on the property, Gutoskie isn’t certain about the cost of damage, as certain portions of it remain inaccessible. However, she said that the rising waters have caused significant damage to soil along the property’s grounds.

“We did have some material damage, but not a great amount of it,” said Gutoskie. “Most of the cost for us was in saving the business and being able to maintain that.”

While in favour of receiving some form of financial relief for the cost of damage, Gutoskie said that BMR is out of luck since it does not meet the criteria because it’s too large a business.

For Gutoskie the most difficult part about shutting down her store was not being able to help the people who needed it the most.

For now her biggest concern is what to do with all the sand surrounding the property.

“You don’t want to do anything that would adversely affect the issue with the environment,” said Gutoskie.

The Quyon Ferry was closed for five and a half days, as hundreds of local residents were forced out of their homes, which has taken a severe toll on business traffic for the ferry.

According to ferry owner Ralph McColgan, business has gone down significantly with the presence of floodwaters in the municipality, as cottagers, truck drivers and local businesses have either been evacuated or are avoiding the area.

Despite this, McColgan said the floods didn’t cause significant damage to the ferry’s infrastructure. With the biggest toll being on the financial side, McColgan is conscious that many residents remain in much more precarious positions than his enterprise.

“We’ve been hurt pretty significantly, that’s for sure,” said McGolgan. “But compared to people losing their houses and cottages, it’s minor.”

Register or subscribe to read this content

Thanks for stopping by! This article is available to readers who have created a free account or who subscribe to The Equity.

When you register for free with your email, you get access to a limited number of stories at no cost. Subscribers enjoy unlimited access to everything we publish—and directly support quality local journalism here in the Pontiac.

Register or Subscribe Today!