One of the employees at Howe Sound Inn & Brewing said the staff were surprised when the water started flooding the street outside.
“We had no idea,” said Megan Moore, the sales and marketing manager. “We’re not prepared at all.”
She said the water started rising outside so much that it submerged the bottom of the light fixtures and went into the nearby garden beds. With nowhere to go, the water went into the building’s basement.
“There was waist-deep water in the basement yesterday,” she said. “It's a giant question mark of how much we lost and how much we need to just literally get rid of.”
Moore said the basement is where they have their shipping, receiving and brewery production. The power system was also submerged, so the building was deemed unsafe and current guests were shuffled to other Squamish accommodations, while future guests are getting sorted out with the help of the hotel manager.
For now, Moore said the business will be closed until it’s safe to turn the power back on. Even then, they’re unsure when they’ll actually reopen.
“Even if the power can go back on, we don't know if it even will, because it's been submerged in water,” she explained.
Despite that, Moore said they were proud of how the team came together to get sandbags and barricade parts of the building.
“We just all rallied together,” she said.
Just down the street from Howe Sound Inn & Brewing, Climb On Equipment also experienced flooding, though not quite to the same extent.
“We still had quite a bit of water come inside, probably had two inches of water across the floor for most of the store,” said Erik Stevenson, the assistant manager.
Stevenson said they lifted a lot of products off of the ground, which meant they had minimal damage to their goods.
“We lucked out and had some team members act pretty quickly,” he said.
Stevenson said they shoveled sand at Brennan Park and some owners brought sandbags from home.
He also explained that the District of Squamish brought a truckload of sand in the bed of a pickup truck and the nearby businesses and possibly residents used it to fill sandbags and barricade the storefronts.
Despite the flooding on Dec. 27, Climb On Equipment was open for business on Dec. 28 with a few low shelves unstocked and mannequins still placed on tables. Stevenson said they quickly rented shop vacs and dehumidifiers to help push the water out.
Like Moore, Stevenson also said they were proud of how the team rallied around the problem.
“We're all in good spirits. We're all pretty stoked with how well we all came together and had the other businesses to help us — as well as help them,” he said.
To get a broader sense of how businesses have been impacted, The Squamish Chief reached out to the Squamish Chamber of Commerce and the Downtown Squamish BIA, who both did not respond by press deadline. This story will be updated if they reply.
The latest on the flood situation
The latest winter weather update issued by the District of Squamish on social media says public works staff were on location in downtown Squamish Wednesday morning to assess and monitor the situation and reported a peak tide of 4.98 meters at 10:11 a.m. with no additional flooding.
By comparison, yesterday’s peak was 5.02 metres with considerable precipitation which contributed to flooding along Cleveland and Second Avenues, the announcement said.
“Based on the current forecast we expect that we have seen the most severe impacts from this king tide, and the flood watch for Howe Sound has ended,” reads the update.
“Staff are monitoring the situation and we will continue to update the community should conditions change.”
On the other hand, the BC Storm Surge Forecast Model predicts a high water mark of 5.26 metres on Dec. 29 for Point Atkinson at approximately 11 a.m., whereas the high water mark was only 5.04 on Dec. 28.
The same model predicts a high water mark of 5.13 on Dec. 30, then subsiding below 5 metres for the next few days. This prediction could mean a risk of flooding on Dec. 29 and 30, though since the measurements are taken in Point Atkinson, West Vancouver, it’s unclear if they will apply to Squamish.
In the longer term, Tide-forecast.com predicts a high of 5.07 metres on Jan. 24. This is still almost a month away though, and may be subject to change.
The Squamish Chief also reached out to the District of Squamish for further comment, but have yet to hear back.
