Atlanta water main breaks | Impact on small businesses

ATLANTA — As crews continue their work to try to bring the water crisis under control, companies say they are losing money for every minute it takes.

Small business owners added that they lost tens of thousands of dollars.

The parking lot was packed outside Big Dave’s Cheesesteaks downtown near Forsyth Street NW on Monday, but it wasn’t customers taking up the spots.

“There are things we need to fix. It’s a big load,” said owner Derrick Hayes.

Food trucks lined the streets where Atlanta’s water main break forced dozens of businesses to close their doors.

Hayes says the damage inside his flagship restaurant is devastating.

“There was water pouring down the walls and ceilings,” Hayes said. “The ground is starting to buckle. There’s a lot of water here.”

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Hayes pays his employees to help clean up the mess to ensure they don’t miss a paycheck while the restaurant is closed.

“That’s what I really care about. I care about my employees. I don’t want my employees to lose an hour’s pay, a day’s pay, a minute’s pay,” he said.

Even if people work around the clock to clean up the mess, Hayes says it will be weeks before he can reopen downtown, and will lose tens of thousands of dollars in revenue.

“Every business owner I’ve talked to who had their doors closed or had less traffic to their business over the weekend said the same thing, that they lost dozens of thousands of dollars,” Devin Barrington said. Ward, CEO of the Black Futurist Group.

He advocates for small business owners and calls on the Atlanta City Council to create a $5 million relief fund for people who have lost money due to water main breaks.

“This time and in the future, because we know our water and sewer are getting old. So the question is not if it will happen again. The question is when,” he said.

Hayes added that small business owners need all the help they can get to keep customers coming back.

“Because if we don’t all win together, we’re all going to lose together, the same way we win. I suggest we stay together and get through this,” Hayes said.

The Atlanta City Council is hearing Barrington-Ward’s proposal for the $5 million relief fund at its meeting Monday.