Damage, outages, shortages, closures: Manitoba businesses clean up after storm, prep for future

It was an unexpected night shift at Stonewall Home Hardware.

Normally, the rural Manitoba retailer closes at 8 p.m. on Tuesdays. This week, it shuttered that day as usual — only to reopen a half-hour later to sell sump pumps to a handful of area residents.

Rain hammered nearby homes and businesses. By 10 p.m., Home Hardware had announced online it had reopened its doors; hundreds of people came to buy products as their properties flooded.

The company ran out of sump pumps and hoses by midnight. It began restocking Wednesday.

“I don’t know many people that didn’t get water in the basement,” manager Andrew Kirk said.

Businesses also weren’t immune. For many, severe storms Tuesday brought property damage, power outages, staff shortages and closures.

Gunn’s Bakery opted to not open Wednesday. It was among the roughly 17,000 Winnipeg sites impacted by a power outage. (Across Manitoba, more than 25,000 places were without power at noon Wednesday.)

“There are many people who have been affected by this in worse or different ways. I guess we are just another victim.”

Owner Jon Hochman spent time rescheduling the 72 shipments slated to leave the North End bakery. Meanwhile, staff threw out “many, many dollars” worth of product — goods that hadn’t been refrigerated overnight.

The bakery storefront, which might see 100 customers in a day, didn’t have a functioning point-of-sales system and also remained closed. Its power was restored Wednesday afternoon, after roughly 17 1/2 hours.

“This is something that we can prepare for, to a certain degree, but in the end of the day, it’s just an unfortunate situation,” Hochman said. “There are many people who have been affected by this in worse or different ways. I guess we are just another victim.”

Ravi Ramberran is expecting to spend $2,000 on repairs for the roof leaks, damaged ceilings and flooding at Four Crowns Restaurant and Bar on McPhillips Street.

Ramberran planned to visit another Winnipeg restaurant he owns, St. James Burger & Chip Co., on Wednesday to check for damage. Its large street-facing sign was knocked over in Tuesday’s storm — a first in nearly a decade.

“It’s part of our summers (now) — from extreme hot to extreme cold,” Ramberran said. “We’ve just got to be smart, take care of our properties, damage control here and there. We’ve definitely got to look at our insurance.”

Last year, severe weather events were linked to more than $2.4 billion in insurance claims nationally. Wildfires in the Flin Flon and La Ronge, Sask., areas accounted for $300 million; Prairie storms consumed another $235 million, according to the Insurance Bureau of Canada.

Businesses should plan long-term for a greater number of severe storms, said Sean Buchanan, a University of Manitoba business professor who researches environmental issues in the private sector.

“All the scientific evidence suggests that storms will become more intense and extreme due to changes in climate,” Buchanan said. “Maybe not this storm in particular, but these types of storms — more intense — will become more frequent.”

It’s hard to predict how they will impact businesses, Buchanan noted.

Three:30 Paper, Decor and Gift in Swan River has largely escaped the flooding that’s prompted a local state of emergency. The retailer was open Wednesday, but owner Rachael Stober didn’t expect many customers.

Locals are sandbagging; others are stuck on their properties and can’t make it into town and their workplaces, causing neighbouring businesses to close or alter operations, Stober said.

“It’s part of our summers (now) – from extreme hot to extreme cold.”

She’s been offering meals when she can. “It’s hard because you’ve got a business to run, even though you know not a lot of people are going to show up,” she said.

Adapting and staying resilient are becoming a greater part of Manitoba businesses’ climate conversations, said Derek Earl, founder of BizforClimate.

The entity pushes for greater environmental practice adoption. Nearly 270 businesses have signed its pledge. It recently launched a membership program and counts around 30 members.

“Winnipeg hasn’t really suffered too much from this in the past,” Earl said. “But now we have threats hanging over the city of Winnipeg.”

On Tuesday morning, a Miller Environmental executive urged attendees of a Manitoba Chambers of Commerce event to consider tornado response plans.

Miller Environmental has a facility near Morden. It has a plan and holds tornado preparedness drills seasonally, president Paul Bauer said.

“For many of us, we grew up here and we didn’t have to face these issues,” he told the crowd. “But these tornado warnings are serious.”

Princess Auto designated a section of its new 500 Panet Rd. store to be open 24-7, partly to address emergencies. In the late and early hours, staff will bring the requested items to customers.

It was a revolving door Tuesday night and Wednesday, said Heather Turnbull-Smith, a senior vice-president at Princess Auto. Pumps, hoses, generators and fans were among the top purchases.

Insurance brokerages have been “extremely busy” in the aftermath of Tuesday’s storms, said Grant Wainikka, chief executive of the Insurance Brokers Association of Manitoba.

Blanket premiums haven’t increased due to severe weather in the past; until last year’s wildfires, Manitoba largely avoided large-scale devastation, Wainikka said.

“The key … is to prevent these claims from happening in the first place,” he said, adding with severe weather, it can be “very difficult.”

Wainikka recommended homes and businesses use backwater valves, consult resources at the Climate Resilience Centre downtown and talk to insurance brokers abnout options.

gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com