HOUSTON — The widespread power outages from Hurricane Beryl have a cost to it, especially for small businesses who've been in the dark and out of work for one week.
Houston Chef Vladimir Smirnov said Beryl's impact was hard and is nervous about what may come next.
Chef Smirnov Catering has conducted business for 15 years inside its location on Bellaire Boulevard. Instead of scents and flavor wafting through the room, there's darkness.
"We will recover, of course, but it’s just overwhelming," Smirnov said.
For the first time, owner Smirnov said they'd lost power and an estimated $10,000 worth of inventory. The 15-member staff hasn't been able to work.
"It makes me nervous. You have to be prepared for whatever happens next," he said.
There's no timeline on when they'll be able to fire up the stoves and ovens, leaving an eerie silence in the kitchens.
"It's very, very strange. We work every day. We don’t have any days off. This is very strange," he said.
Smirnov said in addition to its business and residential clients, it provides fully packaged meals to seniors.
With more catering on the calendar, even more orders will remain unfilled, just like during the COVID-19 Pandemic, Smirnov said.
He said they've managed to stay afloat and while outages have shut things down, he's grateful he'll be able to pay the employees.
"I hope it’s going to get better. We look forward to that," he said.