Stores are flooded by water pipe break (update) | Barneveld newspaper

The home store hopes to open its doors again on Tuesday. ,,Although that is not entirely certain yet”, says employee Marina van Pelt. “We now have to wait for the insurer to assess the damage to our items, then we can continue.” She and her colleagues were warned on Sunday afternoon after observant passers-by saw that water was flowing out from under the shop door.

“A little later we were scooping water from the building, we worked on that until the beginning of the evening.” The fire brigade initially also helped to tackle the worst flooding, then a specialized company took over the work. about. To prevent bigger problems, the fire service immediately turned off the main tap on Sunday afternoon. As a result, one apartment above a shop was without water.

Van Pelt: ,,It helps that we have a concrete floor in the store, so there is probably little damage. The largest cost item is in the many sales items on our floor, mainly furniture and home accessories. We did an initial inventory on Sunday evening and put all damaged items on pallets. Depending on the material, we have to look at what exactly the damage is.”

Also at the neighbours, fashion store La Posta, water damage was caused by the break in the pipe, although the problem there was limited to a low water in part of the warehouse and a back part of the store. “Because we have a wooden floor here, it was exciting to see how big the damage would be and whether the water would seep into the wood,” says owner Martine Breugem of La Posta. “However, my husband acted quickly yesterday by removing parts of the floor. In combination with the use of blowers last night, it all seems to be going well now.” According to her, there is no damage to sales products in this store. The fashion store can open its doors again today.

The flooding was caused by a break in a link to the main water connection in the ceiling of shop No 28. It now appears that there was something wrong with the pipe and the problem could be related to the recent new construction above the shop, where apartments have been realized. It is not clear at this time what liability for the damage suffered.

Wouter van Dijk

–