On Friday, some of the cars at the dealerships along 103rd Street were drying out, but others were destroyed. Meanwhile, business owners in the area are contemplating whether or not to stay.
Step into Ishak Alaiwak's tailor shop and nothing inside his business is salvageable. It’s what businesses in a strip mall at 103rd near Wornall are dealing with.
“I’ve never seen anything like that—7 feet high,” Alaiwak said.
The force of the floodwaters tore the wall separating his business from the pizzeria next door.
For Alaiwak, who opened up at the location in 1998, this is now the fourth time he’s experienced this.
“They said it’s a flood area, but I don't think it’s that bad. If I knew it was that bad I wouldn’t come here but that happened,” Alaiwak told 41 Action News.
Unfortunately he doesn’t have any flood insurance to recover from Thursday’s storm.
RELATED | Many Wornall business owners don't have flood insurance
In a neighboring building, security cameras captured the moment rising floodwaters broke through the front door of Design Envy, a nail salon.
When it was said and done the salon had 6 feet of standing water.
Owner Rachell Bates had to bring pumps to get the water out of the underground location Thursday night.
On Friday, Bates and her co-workers salvaged whatever they could, hosing off a few bottles of nail polish and a couple of racks.
They’ve been in business here for seven years.
She did try to get flood insurance back then but was denied by five companies because this area is considered a flood plain.
After the mess with this latest storm, she won’t be coming back.
“We need to keep going. Unfortunately, when you’re self-employed, you don’t have the advantages most people with nine to fives have, you know. Our business is our livelihood. Without work, without our clients coming in, we don’t have any income coming in. We have the support of our clients, telling us they have our backs and they’re going to be here for us when we need them, but right now at this moment we have to put them on hold so we can build ourselves back up,” Bates said.
She estimates this flood has cost her at least $10,000.
A day later and parts of the city are still experiencing residual effects.
Around 8 a.m. public works crews were called out to the Liberty Memorial after a landslide blocked Main Street sidewalks.
A spokesperson with the World War I Museum told 41 Action News whenever there’s heavy rainfall the soil along the hill erodes. They’re working on a permanent fix.
Back in south Kansas City, other business owners are focusing on the short-term.
“Well I have all my customers. They understand and I hope they see everything, I’m sure they’ll be back when I come back,” Alaiwak said.
But they’re still unsure when or if they’ll be able to rebuild.
A city spokesperson said it will ultimately come down to the strip mall’s insurance company to decide whether or not to condemn the building.
