A busted pipe caused a big mess Monday for some business owners in the Galleria area, who spent Labor Day cleaning up flooded stores.
“I came out and the water was running out the doors, everywhere,” said James Alsbrooks, manager of Lerant, a gift shop, located at 5000 Westheimer Rd.
Alsbrooks said that was after midnight Monday, and by the time he had arrived water had covered the floor. Throughout the day Monday, it flowed from the ground, gushing down a back alley. Water also could be seen seeping from under a wall.
“It’s still gushing,” said Judy Agee, owner of Lerant.
Throughout the day, employees from at least five stores, located in a two-story strip mall at Centre at Post Oak, did their best to keep water from pooling inside, as water flowed into the parking lot.
Alsbrooks said the problem, as told to him, is a big one.
“It’s the fire department water line that runs underneath the building that’s busted,” he said. That’s what shopkeepers said a City of Houston public works crew told them Monday, adding crews cut flow for a bit, but not for long. “It was off for like an hour and they turned it back on. They said the galleria called and they needed water, and they turned it back on,” Alsbrooks said.
KPRC2 reached out to the Department of Public Works for comment on the break, but did not receive a response during the Labor Day Holiday.
In the meantime, shop owners continued to clean muddy water from their floors. They hope to receive an answer on the extent of the problem and what that will mean for business, leading into the holiday shopping season.
Their home: not to be left under water. “Fortunately the landlord has given us a space upstairs. So, we’ll have to move everything upstairs which is going to be quite a job and an expense for us,” Agee said.