Businesses begin recovery work after winter storm in North Texas

NORTH TEXAS (CBSDFW.COM) – Now that the region is out of the ice storm, North Texas residents are returning to assess the damage as well as enjoy warmer weather.

“I had very little damage, but there were a few boats that were destroyed,” boat owner Donald Jones said.

Jones mooring his two boats at Lynn Creek Wharf on Joe Pool Lake in Grande Prairie. His boats were under a roof that collapsed during a storm.

The roof collapsed under the weight of the ice on Wednesday night, according to the company Suntex Marinas, which manages the marina.

“It’s very frustrating because we don’t have access to our boats,” Jones said.

Suntex Marinas said no one was hurt in the collapse and that they have notified all boat owners. They also move boats from the affected dock to another location.

However, boat owners are disappointed.

“They moved our boats to another place where there is no electricity or water,” Jones said. “I have a big boat – a 40-foot boat – the batteries need to be charged, cooled, and without electricity they will just die.”

It’s a different story with restaurants that were forced to close during the storm: warm weather brought them back to work.

“It was closed for two days, but it was actually for the safety of our employees the most,” said Jason Alan Smith, owner of FireHouse Gastro Park.

The FireHouse Gastro Park in Grande Prairie closed its doors on Tuesday and Wednesday, but on Saturday was filled with people who were just happy to get out of the house.

“It’s definitely not as bad as two years ago when the whole network went down and all, but we were a little furious… I stayed there for three days,” Tiffany Yancey said.

Smith said the two-day closure hurt their bottom line.

“I feel sorry for our team that had to go home and not get their salary or tips,” he said.

But they’ve learned from past storms and stocked up on salt, wrapped pipes and kept heating on to prevent damage so they can get back to business sooner this time.

“February got off to a bit of a rough start, but we’re looking to bounce back,” Smith said.