Last Tuesday’s deluge caused major damage to Nelson’s Glacier Gymnastic Club.
“Our coaches were in the middle of coaching and happened to look up and see a bunch of water pouring through the door,” said Heather Beaudoin, who works at the gymnastics club. “They had to hustle the kids up into the viewing area, as they are obviously the first priority.
“By the time they had moved all the kids, there were hundreds of gallons of water coming through. So they couldn’t do anything to block it.”
The floor ended up flooding with a layer of water about 13 centimetres deep, soaking the equipment and spring floor. Dirt and other debris was also brought into the gymnasium.
Clean up began as soon as the water stopped flowing. After moving all the equipment, crews started pumping the water out of the floor and cleaning up all the mud and debris that was brought in. The clean up is expected to take about two weeks.
“It was a Herculean effort.” said Beaudoin.
The facility will remain closed until next Monday when the club hopes the clean up will be complete.