IROQUOIS COUNTY, Ill. (WCIA) — Iroquois County officials are talking about what business owners can do if a disaster strikes.
The EMA Coordinator will be meeting to talk about how they can prepare before and after in the case it happened. An owner in Watseka knows clean up isn’t easy.
“These are places where people go, these are places people work if those things are not there and they’re not able to recover from a disaster than the local economy cannot recover.”
“There are a number of businesses within the city of Watseka and outside the city where flooding has occurred umm that often have their business plans for emergencies and know what they need to do if they suffer a flood again.”
And the clean up goes beyond just taking care of the building. EMA Coordinator Eric Ceci says it’s important to be prepared ahead of time.
“A businesses response plan could be how do i keep my employees safe if a tornado strikes and then a recovery plan could be how do I insure employees continue employment if we don’t have a building anymore.”
One of the issues Dan McCullough the owner of Shorty’s Bar and Grill is currently dealing with. It was not a natural disaster but a fire burned his business to the ground.
‘I’m worried more about the people that had no other job cause they’re my main concern because their job was all they had you might say.”
All that’s left is this pile of debris.
“I want to get it cleaned up because it’s an eyesore for the city.”
He’s spent the last month working to figure out a clean up plan. And he hopes Shorty’s can still call this spot home.
“Hopefully we can put a building here, I think it will look nice.”
“A lot of people walk by here from around the area and we had a tremendous carry out business.”
A cause of the fire has not been determined. McCullough tells me a surveillance system hard drive is being looked into. It was found in the debris. He hopes that will give a clearer picture into how the fire started.
The event for business owners is being held with the help of the Watseka Chamber of Commerce. The EMA Coordinator will give a presentation.
He says if you aren’t able to come to the meeting you can contact him directly. His hope is every business has a disaster plan in place.