OAKLAND COUNTY, Mich. – A water main break forced businesses along South Broadway in Lake Orion Township to close during one of their busiest weekends, costing some owners thousands of dollars in lost sales and canceled reservations.
Bitter Tom’s owner, Sharon Bosley, said the restaurant had to cancel hundreds of reservations and shut down because it had no running water.
Bosley estimated that Sunday’s (May 10) closure alone cost about $10,000 and said the business is losing tens of thousands of dollars each day it remains closed.
On Monday, Bosley handed out food to nearby tenants and neighbors affected by the outage.
“I invited the tenants here, obviously, they don’t have water either. I talked to my neighbors; anyone who wants to come over and grab some stuff while I’m here, they can,” Bosley said.
Bosley said the timing made the disruption even more costly.
“That’s the super disappointing part, it’s a big day for most restaurants, flower stores, boutique stores. So all of us here, it’s one of our busiest days,” Bosley said.
Across the street, Amazing Petals Florists and Gifts owner Kyle Hughes said the shop was using well water to keep plants alive.
“We’re able to be watering the plants, and that’s really about it,” Hughes said.
He said an employee offered to fill buckets with well water from her home and leave them in the garage.
“I said absolutely,” Hughes said.
Officials have asked nonessential businesses to close during the outage, but Lucky’s Natural Foods remained open.
“People are coming in saying we need water for drinking, we need water for flushing toilets,” said owner Tanya Sallade.
She said the store is working with two suppliers to keep water on shelves.
“Hopefully, they can get it fixed really soon. I know they’re working very hard and diligently at it,” Sallade said.