Parts of El Paso get drenched with rain, hurting some local businesses
EL PASO, Texas — Rain soaked parts of west El Paso as well as the Upper and Lower Valley, causing some businesses to worry about their bottom line.
On wet weather days like this, the co-owner of Acetuna’s says his bar sees half its normal business.
“It really hurts business,” Paul Rakowitz said. “It's hard to schedule employees because you don't know when it's going to hit or how hard or for how long, so the rain makes it really hard on us.”
Rakowitz said he believes his bar is affected more than most because Acetuna’s is primarily an outdoor bar.
Rakowitz said Friday’s rains were particularly tough for them because it’s their busiest night of the week.
“The weather is gonna cost us quite a bit of money that we can never make back,” he said.
Still, his staff tried their best to sweep water puddles away and dry off tables just in case the crowds decide to brave the rain. They even moved their Friday night band to a smaller indoor space to keep patrons and musicians safe.
But just outside the bar, another problem is also hurting business.
“They've been working on Doniphan on and off as long as we've been here, and it always floods and they don't do anything about it,” Rakowitz said.
Doniphan Drive is particularly flood-prone, which can cause a lot of traffic delays in the area.
The water also seeps into the bar when it rains hard in the area.
“We were getting ready to put towels and sandbags and stuff down,” Rakowitz said.
Still, some people managed to make it out.
“We're over here celebrating somebody's last day at work and so he's pretty important to everybody and so we came here, weather rain or not,” said Stephanie Martinez.
She just hopes she’ll be able to get her car out of the parking lot when the party is over.
“I'm in a smaller car and hopefully it doesn't flood too bad,” Martinez said.
Meanwhile, Chase Liston says he got stuck in the traffic on the way to the bar.
“Traffic was a mess coming in. When we first came out it was absolutely, I mean, everybody was just piled up along the highway. It took me like 20-ish minutes to get here,” Liston said.
And, once he got to the bar he also got soaked. But he said it was still a good time.
“The rain kind of appeared suddenly and we all had her like rush inside really quick,” Liston said. “That was the most important part, was save the beers.”
The rain is expected to continue throughout the weekend.
