Toulouse. This popular restaurant reopens three months after being devastated by the flood of the Garonne
By Guillaume Laurent
Published on
It was one of the strong images of the historic flood which descended on Toulouse, at the beginning of January 2022: buried under more than a meter of water, the Rowing club, located on the island of Ramier, was devastated. The establishment had to close the doors of its restaurant, but also of the adjacent tennis courts. Three months after this episode, he will find his customers, Friday, April 8, from the midday service.
A meter of water in the restaurant!
On the night of Monday 10 to Tuesday 11 January, the Rowing club saw the Garonne surge in fury, out of bed. The establishment found itself under a wave of waste and sludge carried by the river. Furniture, fridges, and other equipment had been destroyed or taken away.
350,000 euros of work for the restaurant!
“All of a sudden three weeks to clean, then decontaminate the restaurant, before letting the walls dry out for a month, due to the humidity that had risen in the plasterboards”, testifies Felix Metz. “The classification as a natural disaster (of the city of Toulouse in February, editor’s note) relieved us: we were able to be insured against interior damage”, confides the co-manager.
It must be said that the addition is salty to say the least: the damage was colossal, and something €350,000 work was needed to refloat the only restaurant.
“We had to redo all the placo walls, the paintings, the floors, but also buy all the household appliances, the storage fridges, etc. We are in the process of finishing the work on the exteriors so that everything goes back to how it was! “
Ready in time to “welcome the sun”
The Rowing team has indeed made every effort to “rehabilitate the restaurant as quickly as possible and identically”. The fifty employees of this very popular establishment in the Pink City will be ready for the beautiful days, when the brand records the bulk of its activity. A real slowdown for Felix Metz, “happy to reopen and to be able to welcome our customers again for the summer season”. At the end of a historic cold snap in Toulouse for the beginning of April, he blows: “Our 600 m2 terrace will be ready this weekend to welcome the sun! »
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