The owner of a pub which had its opening date postponed for four months due to a flood has been flooded for a second time – just two days after reopening.
Evan Bursey, the head chef and owner of Fort Amherst Pub in downtown St John’s, Newfoundland, told
CBC that he had been forced to shut down the pub once again after suffering a flood even more devastating than the first.
“I’ve been in this building since April,” he said to
CBC. “I’ve been able to open for two days in eight months due to external issues — two floods caused by the upstairs tenant and the landlord.”
Bursey said he arrived at the pub last Tuesday to find water pouring from the light fixtures, which he described as “thousands of gallons of water.”
The pub was reopened on Friday, November 04, after the delay caused by the first flood in July.
Bursey said his 10 staff were trained and ready to start, but, after just two days in business, will be forced to wait once again as the latest flood leaves the business out of action.
“It’s worse than what happened before,” he said. “Before we had the floors come up, the walls come down, the ceiling come down. Everything got ripped to the studs. Just support beams. They’re informing me it’s a similar process.”
When he was hit by the first flood in July, Bursey estimated that it ruined $30,000 worth of new kitchen equipment.
Bursey is now in the position of having to wait to hear from his insurance company as to what will be covered – but he puts the blame on his landlord and the upstairs tenant.
“At the end of the day, I don’t know what someone could do to remedy how far this has gone,” he said.
The business, he anticipates, will remain closed until after Christmas due to the flooding.
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