by Adam Shear
TEMPLE - Businesses in Temple are trying to figure out how they will get back the money they did not make after they were forced to shut down during Sunday's water crisis.
The water emergency was caused when lightning struck the Temple Water Treatment Plant generator Saturday night. The storm shut down the power there and the city was forced to issue a disaster declaration Sunday.
During the disaster declaration the city was forced to ask businesses to close with the exception of grocery stores, gas stations, hospitals, and convenience stores.
"[My restaurant] needs all the business we can get," said Hal Martin, the owner of Cafe 34, who was forced to close his store Sunday. "It hurts to be turning people away, but that's the situation. Hopefully this [water problem] will be taken care of soon."
Around 3:00 p.m. Sunday the city of Temple allowed businesses to re-open, but they were restricted to not using water. Most businesses decided to remain closed because of the potential safety hazards that presented.
Monday businesses were allowed to open, as long as they boiled their water.
City officials say they are pleased with how well business owners have responded given the circumstances.
"[City officials] got several calls in support [of the situation]. In fact the phone calls I got yesterday were all in support," said David Blackburn, Temple City Manager. "[Some owners] just asked really one question; What else could they do to help."
While retail stores, including the Temple Mall, were able to open their doors back up to their normal amount of customers today, some restaurant owners were still forced to turn away potential business from people.
"[Some restaurants] can't function," said Martin. "The system of boiling water might work in the home, but in a restaurant, where you've got so much equipment tied directly into the water, you couldn't put boiling water into the production process anyways."
Martin, who says Sunday is normally his best business day, expects he lost roughly $2000.00 in sales because of the water emergency.
Some restaurants that opened in Temple Monday were forced to serve canned and bottled beverages instead of fountain drinks because of the boil water notice that was in effect.
