SEATTLE — Seattle restaurants are seeking help after last week's cold snap caused pipes to freeze and burst.
Some businesses now face extensive closures, including the Duke’s Seafood off Alki.
"I've never seen anything like it, and hopefully, we don't have to see anything like it again, that's for sure," said John Moscrip, the co-owner of Duke's.
Several fans are blowing where tables and chairs used to be, with torn-up ceilings and flooring set as the new decor for the restaurant, which is expected to be closed for the next month as crews look to fix the damage caused by a pipe freezing and bursting early on the morning of Jan. 16.
"Pretty devastating, there were 3 or 4 inches of water on the ground which as you know water can be pretty catastrophic," said Moscrip.
Moscrip estimates the damage will cost $200,000 to $300,000. Insurance covers some of the damage costs and will help support more than 40 employees who are out of work for weeks.
"Insurance is fortunately able to take care of some of that to make sure everybody's taken care of,” said Moscrip. “We're ensuring that's going to continue. We don't want any disruption in people's livelihoods, and we're going to see that through."
As Moscrip navigates through this mess, so are many other restaurants throughout the state.
"It's tough times, on tough times,” said Anthony Anton, the president of the Washington Hospitality Association. “Operators are still dealing with debt from Covid. They're still dealing with really high price increases."
The Washington Hospitality Association has 6,700 restaurants in its organization. Anton said many were impacted by last week's cold snap and have been visiting WHA's website for various resources.
"That's an indicator people are thinking about it and using it and looking at it and wanting to know at what point do I need to do what," said Anton.
Anton encourages restaurants to contact their insurance and the health department for the next steps for reopening and wants the community to "Support those local restaurants in Seattle or your neighborhood, they're a key part of our community," said Anton.
It could take weeks before we know the full cost of this widespread freeze damage to businesses, schools and homes.
There's no grant funding the Washington Hospitality Association is aware of as of Tuesday. Right now, the association is still analyzing the extent of the damage to restaurants and will consider reaching out to King County or the state after it gets a better grasp on the need.
The WHA did release some tips for businesses to prevent burst pipes and what to do in case they do break.
It advises to wrap outdoor pipes in heat tape, keep the thermostat above 60 degrees when closed and make sure all employees know where the water shut off valve is. If a pipe does break, businesses owners are advised to shut off the main water immediately, turn up the temperature and secure all food.