Fort McMurray businesses forced to adapt after flooding damages buildings

Several businesses in Fort McMurrayare trying to reopen or find a new locationafter a flood in April damaged more than 1,200 buildings.

Kathy Gillard, the owner of Kathy's Fiber Arts & Crafts, is opening up a new location far from her damaged downtown space.

About 75 per cent of her inventory was damaged when water flooded her store in April.

After Gillard was able to get back into her storeand survey the damage caused by more than a metre of water, she knew that she was going to have to move because it would take months for the building to be back up and running.

"It's definitely like starting over again," said Gillard.

"We're starting from scratch again and having to reorder all this stuff and build our inventory back up again."

Gillard said she's had a lot of help from the community to clear out her old location, and some of her customers started a GoFundMe that has raised $23,000 to help with restarting costs.

"That's going to definitely go a long way of helping us cover the extra rent that we're going to incur here and the shelving inventory replacement," said Gillard.

"Nobody wants the only craft store in town to leave.Us crafters are pretty hard-core."

Several other businesses in Fort McMurray have moved to temporary locations, while the buildings that are home to stores likeHome Hardware, Canada Post and Northern Pet Emporium are in the process of being repaired.

Nick Sanders, interim executive director for the Fort McMurray Chamber of Commerce, said the area's businesses have been hit by a triple whammy: the flood, COVID-19 and low oil prices.

It's too early to tell how many will permanently close, he said.

Sanders is part of the Wood Buffalo Economic Development Corporation's business recovery task force.

Business owners who he hascontacted say their biggesthurdles arenegotiating with insurance companies and navigating the province's Disaster Recovery Program.

As part of the recovery task force, Sanders is working on finding different ways to support businesses financially.

"We're trying to provide different cash flow avenues to give them a fighting chance," said Sanders.

Michela Gilchrist is a co-owner of local escape room Mr. E's Solve-It-Torium.

The escape room business islocated on the second floor of a downtown building, so itwasn't directly hit by the flood but the first floor was affected.

Gilchrist said she was planning on upgrading the rooms during the pandemic, but now that's not an option.

"This was kind of a perfect opportunity that kind of got taken away with the flood," said Gilchrist.

"We had been doing well in the months leading up to the pandemic, so we're coasting through this."

Gilchrist hashad some rent relief and is hopeful the business can reopen in July.

"We're trying to be optimistic with regards to the cleanup and the power."