Austin, TX
Texas ice storm: Austin small businesses severely impacted by major power outage
Texas ice storm: Austin small companies severely impacted by main energy outage
For eating places, the prices are actually including up: from misplaced income, to spoiled meals, to workers who at the moment are out of every week’s pay.
AUSTIN, Texas – It’s a protracted street again for small companies in Austin impacted by the continued energy outages. A few of them say they’ve misplaced tens of hundreds of {dollars}.
For eating places, the prices are actually including up: from misplaced income, to spoiled meals, to workers who at the moment are out of every week’s pay.
“It feels implausible to be with the employees and really to start out seeing a number of the regulars as effectively,” mentioned Chris Martinez, co-owner of Vamonos Texmex.
That’s the excellent news at this farm-to-table Tex-Mex spot on Airport Boulevard, which reopened Tuesday. Nevertheless, the not so excellent news?
“Now we have to make up floor for every week, and that takes a while,” mentioned Martinez.
The restaurant was shut down for an entire week, with not even a ballpark on once they’d get energy again, regardless of Martinez’s repeated calls to Austin Vitality.
“Asking them every time is there an ETA. There’s no ETA,” mentioned Martinez. “Every day it was telling the employees ‘hey, we’re closed for lunch, we could also be open for dinner.’”
Even after the lights got here again on Saturday evening, all their meals needed to be thrown out and changed.
“We’ve misplaced tens of hundreds of {dollars},” mentioned Martinez.
Martinez says his greatest concern is for his devoted employees.
“It’s been very arduous for them. Proper now, they’re asking if they’ll discover additional work within the meantime, as a result of dropping every week’s value of labor is loads,” mentioned Martinez.
In the meantime, at Cherrywood Coffeehouse on 38 ½ Avenue in East Austin, progress has been even slower. They solely acquired their energy again on late Tuesday.
“Principally we have now to undergo logistics of beginning our complete enterprise from scratch now,” mentioned normal supervisor Benjamin Harris.
After every week, they’re left with empty freezers and near $30,000 of meals within the rubbish.
“Truly we had partial energy for a bit bit, however then once they began fixing it, they took off all of our energy, and we misplaced much more product,” mentioned Harris.
Harris says what little communication they acquired from the town, was simply flat out fallacious.
“Based on Austin Vitality we had energy the entire time as a result of they have been pinging the system and seeing that we had vitality, and in reality the entire time we didn’t,” mentioned Harris.
Some staff have been again at Cherrywood late Tuesday, making runs to purchase meals, and prepping to reopen Wednesday morning. Harris was doing his greatest to reassure them.
“Principally we’re anxious about our employees and their misplaced hours, as a result of most of them reside paycheck to paycheck,” mentioned Harris.
Whereas each these companies say the assist from prospects has lifted their spirits, bouncing again from one more disaster isn’t simple.
“We had the large freeze two years in the past, and we mainly misplaced every part from that. And we’re nonetheless recuperating from that. So I might say being within the black this 12 months goes to be very troublesome,” mentioned Harris.
“Each time we predict we’re over the hump, one thing else occurs, and so it’s a bit setback, however we’re not going to cease shifting ahead,” mentioned Martinez.
Cherrywood Coffeehouse has arrange a GoFundMe web page to assist workers get again on their ft.