Businesses cleaning up after Pullman flooding

Last Tuesday, April 19, Jessica Wolfe, owner of Fusions Salon and Spa on North Grand Avenue in Pullman, was making her usual drive to work from Viola, Idaho, not knowing the day would not be anything she may have expected.

“I thought it was a good day,” she said.

When she arrived at work, though, she found that her business had been flooded as the result of a city water main rupture up the street near Dissmore's. The rupture drained more than a million gallons of water from two water towers on Military Hill and College Hill and flooded all of the businesses in Tractor Town Square.

“When I walked in around 10 a.m., the water was already receding back,” she said. “It was about four inches in the salon at that time and mostly mud.”

Wolfe was unaware of the flooding that began shortly after 4 a.m., not having cellphone service near her home. The salon, she said, is a complete loss.

“We've lost absolutely everything,” Wolfe said.

Furniture, electric hair clippers, wall circuits and more were all damaged. Wolfe is now in the process of repairs, and said she is hoping to be able to re-open before WSU students return for the fall semester in August. Right now, she is facing insurance dilemmas. Her insurance company is refusing to cover the damage.

“They decided they did not want to step in because the city was 100 percent at fault,” she said.

Kevin Gardes, Pullman public works director, said the city is working with its adjuster for the possibility of covering the businesses affected. He said an insurance adjuster was on site Friday, April 22, at the businesses affected, which include the salon, Snap Fitness, Carnahan Chiropractic and Wilbur-Ellis.

Wolfe said she has been overwhelmed with the whole situation.

“It's just so depressing seeing my life drain away,” she said.

Her salon has four employees, including her and her husband, Jared. Jared is a barber there.

“The salon's our life,” she said. “We're all in hiatus right now.”

In the meantime, Jared has been offered employment with Meinecke Car Care Center in Moscow.

Wolfe said she is hoping that the process to re-open will go smoothly without the need for lawyers.

“I'm trying to talk to the city myself without lawyering up,” she said.

At Snap Fitness, the gym was covered in three of water. The electronic door which admits patrons with the use a card does not work, and treadmills are filled with standing water, Wolfe said she was told.

Snap Fitness is closed and will be closed for an indeterminate amount of time, according to Facebook posts, but is still trying to continue some operations. Personal trainers have been stocked with off-site waivers, water bottles, ice packs and some equipment in order to still meet with clients, and fitness instructors have organized a temporary outdoor fitness class schedule at Reaney Park.

Carnahan Chiropractic appeared to suffer the least damage. The business was able to re-open to patients Monday, April 25. Shane Carnahan, business owner and chiropractor, announced the re-opening through Facebook.

“We have the green light that we can start seeing patients again,” he wrote on April 23. “For the next week or two we will be without carpet. So grateful that our clinic had minimal flood damage.”

A representative from Wilbur-Ellis was unable to be reached to discuss the extent of the damage there, but Wolfe reported that business also had a lot of mud inside.

Gardes said the road work in regard to the rupture was complete as of Friday, April 22.

“The water line has been patched, and the road has been paved,” he said.

The water line was patched and road re-opened to traffic by Tuesday night on April 19, the same day of the main burst. At that time, a hole spanning the length of a turn lane and adjacent northbound lane was filled with gravel as a temporary fix.

The overall fix is only temporary, though, Gardes said.

“It's a concrete street through there, so as a temporary measure we just paved it for now,” Gardes said. “We'll install new concrete panels in a year or so.”

The water main rupture April 19 was the second in eight years, though not at the exact same spots in the line. The entire main will need to be repaired, Gardes said.

“We'll replace the pipe, and when we replace the pipe, we'll replace the concrete panels as well,” he said.

There is no estimated cost right now as to how much damage the burst and subsequent water damage will cost the city, Gardes said.