“The city of Billings did a fantastic job,” said Mike Schaer, owner of Computers Unlimited, 2407 Montana Ave.
Computers Unlimited had a little water in one of its basements, but storage items were on pallets and there was not much damage, Schaer said.
City crews responded within a half hour of the pipe breaking, Schaer said. The crews got the water shut off and got the pipe fixed, he said.
“They must have had 10 people out there, all of them working. This morning when I came to work, they're gone.”
Big Sky Restoration also responded promptly and pumped out about an inch of water, Schaer said. Blowers were drying damp sheet rock on Friday. By Friday, it was business as usual, he said.
City crews from the Public Works Department worked into the night repairing the line, which ruptured shortly after noon. Crews dug into the street with a backhoe while another crew thawed icy storm drains to keep flooding under control.
The cause of the break wasn't known.
The Rex, at 2401 Montana Ave., was able to serve meals Thursday night after the city ran water to the business from a fire hydrant behind the building.
About the only difference was less water pressure, said David Maplethorpe, the Rex's executive chef on Friday.
The restaurant had a little water in the basement but no damage, Maplethorpe said. “We are back to normal,” he said.
Maplethorpe said a manager told him the line was fixed by about 1:30 a.m.
While the Rex stayed open, Cafe Italia, an Italian restaurant at 2417 Montana Ave., had to close for the night.
Larry Guess, who manages both Cafe Italia and the McCormick Cafe next door, said Friday neither business had any damage or flooding. The restaurants share a kitchen.
Cafe Italia had some holiday parties scheduled for Thursday night and Thursday night is one of the restaurant's better nights, Guess said.
“Fortunately it didn't happen on a Friday or Saturday,” he said. “We're good to go now.”
Guess didn't know if hooking up to a fire hydrant would have been possible for his business.
The Rainbow Bar, 2403 Montana Ave., also closed early, at 9:30 p.m., for lack of water but had no damage, said Linda Jacobson, owner.
The Rainbow had a little water in the basement, but Jacobson took it in stride. “it's a good excuse to do cleaning,” she said. “I can't complain.”
No comments:
Post a Comment