'It was pouring in like a tidal wave': Wick restaurant flooded by burst water pipe
The owners of a Wick restaurant have vowed to "come back stronger" after a burst pipe in the town centre sent water cascading through their premises at the weekend.
Chef Daniel Chrétien and his wife Janice say they are devastated by the damage caused to the Bord De L'Eau in Market Street but have been heartened by the support from their staff, customers and neighbours.
The flow was likened to a "tidal wave" at one point and the kitchen, dining room and toilets have all been affected. The restaurant will remain closed for the time being.
The burst occurred shortly before lunchtime on Saturday at the eastern end of High Street, outside the front entrance to Caithness Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB). The Bord De L'Eau is to the rear of the CAB building and on a lower level, facing onto Wick River.
As many as 500 homes and businesses on the north side of the town were affected. Bottled water was distributed on request, as well as to those on Scottish Water's Priority Services Register.
Most properties were connected later on Saturday after water supplies were re-routed through unaffected parts of the network. However, the repair was only completed at around 5am on Sunday.
The Bord De L'Eau had reopened only 10 days previously as Mr Chrétien had been off work for three months following shoulder surgery.
With help from the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) and others, the couple worked until about 9.30pm to sweep water away and returned back around midnight.
Speaking on Monday, Mr Chrétien said: “We're devastated that we are once again closed. We are waiting for the assessors to come to see the damage.
“We were literally up to our ankles in water and pushing it out. We thought we had won the battle but suddenly it came back again."
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3 / 3His wife said: “The water was just pouring in, it was like a tidal wave. It was coming in here with the same force as it was coming down the street.
“We came back in at midnight. We were worried about what would happen when they turned it back on.”
As well as damaging the ceiling, water had seeped beneath the tiles in the dining room. Dehumidifiers were put in place.
Mr Chrétien said: “We would like to thank everyone who was involved in helping us.
“I would like to say a big thank-you to the fire brigade, and the Scottish Water people, because what they did was tremendous and it was hard work for them also.
“Neighbours came up and helped us to clear the water, and our staff helped too. They knew they were not going to work but they all came to help and give us moral support. It was very nice of them.”
“We've had lots of very nice messages with customers saying 'best of luck, hope you can get back open soon'.”
Staff gave the couple flowers and chocolates.
Mr Chrétien, who is from France, is in his 50th year as a chef. He and his wife have been running the Bord De L'Eau since 2000.
“We'll come back stronger," Mr Chrétien promised. "We need to be positive in our attitude.
"After 23 years working as a team, we're not going to give up now.
"I'm happy with what I've done in my life. It's a shame that this has happened now."
A spokesperson for Scottish Water said: “We would like to apologise to customers in Wick who experienced disruption as a result of a burst on an eight-inch water main in High Street, which occurred late on Saturday morning.
“Our local team responded quickly and began work to isolate the damaged section of pipe, assist affected customers and begin to restore supplies. Water supply to around 500 homes and businesses was initially affected, but we were able to redirect water via unaffected parts of our network by late afternoon in order to begin restoring supply to all except 30 homes and businesses.
“Extra resources were brought into the area to assist and a team from local contractor A&W Sinclair worked on what proved to be a challenging repair. The repair was completed by around 5am on Sunday, and the town’s water network was then returned to normal operation.
"Reinstatement of the excavation in the High Street is scheduled to be carried out from Tuesday.
“We would like to thank customers for their patience while our local team worked to restore normal service as quickly as possible – as well as our partners A&W Sinclair, the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service and the Highland Council for their support.”
Caithness CAB manager Nigel Bott said: "The burst water main in High Street fortunately only caused a little bit of damage to the carpeted area in our reception. However, unfortunately we cannot operate out of our Wick office due to access restriction.
"We will still be providing a service from our Thurso offices, and the telephone from Wick will be transferred to the Thurso office so our clients can still be supported.
"Thanks to the assistance of other organisations we have arranged offices to look after the clients who had appointments booked this week. The Wick office will hopefully be open to clients later in the week."
A spokesperson for SFRS said: "At 1.09pm on Saturday, September 9, operations control mobilised one appliance to Market Street in Wick, where firefighters assisted with diverting water away from a number of premises. The crew left after making the area safe."
Roads in the area around the eastern end of High Street were temporarily closed to traffic while efforts continued to clear the water away.
