The owners of Arbuckles say they are “heartbroken” after flash flooding “devastated” their Downham Market restaurant – but they still plan to re-open their Ely venue on July 4 following the COVID-19 lockdown.
In videos shared via their Facebook page - which have since been watched by 2,000 people – water had filled the car park before penetrating the restaurant. And, at one stage, all internal areas of the restaurant were under 30cm’s of water.
The team have since thanked “the brilliant work of the Norfolk Fire Service, who had three vehicles in attendance with high-powered pumps and worked tirelessly to remove the water. We cannot express our gratitude enough for their efforts.
“Unfortunately, the damage done by the flooding has been heart-breaking. It is going to take many, many months to dry out the building and restore it to its full glory,” the owners said on social media.
“We were so ready and looking forward to opening up on July 4 and were excited to show all our amazing customers what we had done to make a return from the Covid-19 shutdown.”
The owners added that plans to re-open their Ely restaurant as scheduled on July 4 (subject to official government authorisation) are still going ahead - “that’s the only good news on this front, so you will still get to experience Arbuckles and how we have adapted to the challenges.
“But, at Downham, we are going to dust ourselves off, stop feeling sorry for ourselves (we gave ourselves that indulgence for 24 hours), be thankful for everything we have that is positive and set about returning as soon as we can with the most amazing restaurant.”
“Stay safe and hopefully see you all soon in our Ely restaurant.”
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