RICHMOND, Va (WRIC) – With a nor’easter dumping rain on the area until Saturday and Hurricane Joaquin following closely behind, Shockoe Bottom restaurant workers couldn’t help but remember tropical storm Gaston in 2004 as well.
It caused the worst flooding there in recent memory, dumping 13 inches of rain in less than 11 hours. At Bottom’s Up pizza, the 2004 flood line marks the wall. More than 11 years ago, tropical storm Gaston turned the restaurant into a giant fishbowl.
“Five o’clock in the evening, basically we went from three inches of standing water to almost 10 feet of water in less than 30 minutes,” remembered Charlie Liester, who serves as general manager at the popular hangout.
Surveillance video shows the kitchen as it fills up water.
“It literally was above our heads. We got a call, then started running chairs upstairs as the water started coming in,” Liester said. “Within five minutes time the water level was above my head. That’s when we realized, this is a big deal. We got everybody upstairs and rode it out.”
The storm water rose more than six feet high inside the restaurant. Emergency responders rescued patrons form the highest level of the restaurant. No one was hurt, but it’s a day Liester will not forget any time soon.
“I think it’s changed the way Richmonders look at rain,” he said. “They do tend to stay away from the Bottom with the threat of flooding, but we’re open and there’s no water standing in the streets.”
As the rain water builds up this weekend, the impact remains to be seen. But Liester said most Shockoe Bottom restaurants are ready for whatever Mother Nature pours out.
“We feel better about it now than we did then. The city came in and did a lot of renovations,” said Liester. “I think we’re in a lot better shape now than we obviously were then. (The drainage system) wasn’t prepared properly and there was not a way to get that water away from us.”
As for delivery drivers, restaurants will focus not on speed, but on safety over the weekend.
