Bay Area restaurants feel the hit of back-to-back severe storms to start the new year
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (KGO) -- After days of heavy rain and back-to-back powerful storms smashing into the Bay Area, many local businesses are feeling the impact.
Some of the hardest hit? Restaurants.
"Those that stayed open I heard had very slow sales. Basically lost money staying open," said Laurie Thomas.
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Thomas is the executive director of the Golden Gate Restaurant Association.
She says ahead of Wednesday's bomb cyclone, she joined many other businesses in closing down her restaurant early.
"We also looked at our reservations, they were literally dropping like flies," said Thomas. "Very few people. People were canceling."
Thomas says she wanted to keep both her staff and her customers safe.
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The reality is, however, many San Francisco restaurants are feeling the pain through their bottom lines as a result of the bad weather.
But it's not just the last two storms that business owners are worried about. They also say they're concerned about the new rain that's still heading our way.
That could include another week of rain coming to the Bay Area, in what could result in our wettest 10-day period in over 150 years.
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This is a big concern for people like Shaheer Sheikh, who runs the Al Hamra restaurant with his family in The Mission.
"It was literally flooded in front. Like it was so much water, some of the water was coming inside of the restaurant," Sheikh said.
But despite the bad weather, Thomas is confident local eateries will continue to outlast Mother Nature.
"It's unfortunate that those of us who made it through last year are starting off in sort of a negative financial position," Thomas said.
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