Food Truck Keeps Broken Arrow BBQ Place Running During Water Emergency

The water crisis in Broken Arrow had a big impact on the city's economy. More than 150 restaurants in Broken Arrow had to turn customers away Wednesday.

Fast food parking lots were empty, their doors locked, with signs telling customers to try again another day.

"It's kind of a sad day in Broken Arrow, not a single restaurant is open right now," said Danny Underhill, general manager of Dickey's Barbecue Pit.

Restaurants in the city were shut down by the health department, because of the possible threat of contaminated water following a water main break.

"There's a wide variety of water-borne illnesses that occur from contaminated water and a wide variety that can get into the water supply, so we want to make sure people do not consume that bacteria and take a chance of causing an illness," said Debbie Watts, with the Tulsa County Health Department.

6/12/2013 Related Story: Health Department Orders Broken Arrow Restaurants Closed

Dickey's Barbecue Pit was closed, like almost all the others in town. But it stayed in business through its food truck, which operates off its own water system. The restaurant used its Tulsa location to prep food and pumped in fresh water.

Underhill said, on a typical Wednesday, the store brings in between $700 and a $1,000. The pop-up shop won't bring in that much, but he said it will help to recoup some of the losses.

"We won't generate the same amount of income, but we're not completely shut down like the others, so we're not totally broke like the rest of them are," he said.

6/12/2013 Related Story: Water Emergency Forces St. John Broken Arrow To Close

A few miles away, Los Cabos wasn't so fortunate. The Mexican restaurant had to throw out $1,400 worth of food that had been prepped for lunch. And the owner said it will likely lose thousands more in revenue waiting to reopen.

"It's a no-win situation. You feel bad for the employees, especially the hourly, who have to pay their bills based on tips," said owner Jimmy Blacketer.

And for now, restaurant owners say it's a waiting game, and they expect their doors to remain closed through Thursday.

A Tulsa lawyer said several Broken Arrow business owners had contacted him in regard to the income lost due to the water emergency. He said he will be filing a tort against the city for negligence, comparing the water line break to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.