With water service restored, Midtown businesses work to recover from closures

ATLANTA — Atlanta work crews finally finished fixing the Midtown water main break at 11th and West Peachtree Wednesday morning.

While water service is restored, the Atlanta Department of Watershed Management said residents may still see water flowing from hydrants across the city as they pressurize the system.

In the aftermath of the breaks, and repairs, city leaders said summer programs should restart Thursday, which would be big news for shops and restaurants left empty or closed for nearly a week while work was underway.

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Channel 2′s Michael Seiden spoke to a restaurant owner in Midtown who said they’ve had 50 employees out of work while waiting on water to be restored.

Chip Ney owns the Steamhouse in Midtown. He told Seiden that in some ways, the water crisis felt like the COVID-19 pandemic all over again.

“It’s killing me, it’s killing me!” Ney said, talking about what it was like being closed during the water shutoff.

Ney said he’s eager to reopen his restaurant, which was closed starting on Friday due to the outage.

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Referring to the cost of staying closed so long, Ney said it cost “a ton of money!” and estimated it was as much as tens of thousands of dollars. Explaining why the number could be so high, he said: “Yeah, it’s a weekend in Atlanta.”

Ney’s not alone, either.

On Friday, the owner of the Eleventh Street Pub had to close. Over the weekend, the water main break sent water shooting into the air, damaging an awning and even blew out a window.

“It’s been horrible,” Ney said.

As he continues to monitor the situation, he said he’s been in close contact with his more than 50 employees, who he says mostly live paycheck to paycheck.

“I feel really bad for the people who work here. They’ve got bills to pay like everyone else,” Ney said.

Still, relief for his employees may be coming soon.

At a Monday briefing on the water crisis, Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens said the city would establish a $5 million relief fund for businesses that faced losses because of the ongoing water crisis.

Ney said he’s also reaching out to his insurance company, but for now, he’s just focused on getting back to business as usual.

“Open tomorrow, all of our staff is ready to come back,” Ney told Channel 2 Action News on Wednesday night.

As far as the city’s relief program, the details and criteria are still being finalized, but as soon as they’re available, Channel 2 Action News will share what it can.

In terms of what’s next, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Federal Emergency Management Agency will examine the city’s pipe system and recommend changes, then a panel will work to make those changes happen.

That panel will be led by former Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin.

Dickens said improvements to the water system will likely cost billions of dollars.

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