Not Just a Natural Disaster, But One For Businesses as Well

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Story Published: Nov 5, 2009 at 5:36 PM PST

By Peter Bukowski

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NILE VALLEY -- A mass of falling rock pushed homes off their foundations and a rivers off its bed, but it also pushed people away from the Nile Valley.

"The people that were here as quickly as they could, left the valley and then when the road crews went to work down there and got it back for local traffic things got a little back to normal. And as the road opened up to all traffic, you know, slowly building back," says Shane WIlliams, manager and family owner of Whistlin' Jacks.

A disaster like this was enough to keep people away, even if roads are back open. And that cut into the bottom line of local businesses

I asked County Commissioner Rand Elliot what impact he thought the slide had on commerce near the slide. "I think some of them did suffer some economic loss. We don't know yet, I don't know yet to what extent," Elliot responded.

Whistling Jacks took major losses. They had to cut half their staff just to get by.

"The biggest challenge is probably restructuring some of the ways we do business due to the staff that we've laid off. We're doing more with less people," Williams explained, although they have hired some of those people back.

When the landslide knocked out power, Whistling Jacks stayed open. The power is back, but the big challenge now is to get customers to come back.

The county hopes to get some federal aid to folks in the Nile Valley, to help in any way it can.

"Not give-aways but maybe low interest or guaranteed loans that would lessen the blow to those businesses and help them through this," Elliot says.

At Whistling Jacks, it's the die-hard outdoors folks who are getting them through this.

"Anybody with the pioneer spirit won't let a rockslide stand in the way of them having their vacation for hunting or anything like that," jokes Williams.

Williams said if there's one place where people know to survive it's here. And that's exactly what they plan to do.

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