EDMONTON -- Cleanup has begun in Peace River, where a blocked aqueduct caused flooding in the downtown and nearby businesses.
"It was almost right below my knee, it went up that much," Haewon Lee, owner of Wow Grill, told CTV News Edmonton.
The restaurant on 100 Avenue was among those that flooded.
"We’re cleaning our floors. It’s like head to toe."
Mayor Tom Tarpey believes the total damage estimate will ring in somewhere under $1 million.
Flood mitigation, partially funded after Peace River's 2014 floods, helped minimize the damage, Tarpey said, but the area could remain closed for a while.
By Monday, most of the water had receded. Roads remained shut down for engineers doing assessments.
The town is investigating whether the underground infrastructure, from where the flooding originated, is compromised and could cause sinkholes.
"Certainly one of my concerns is that it may collapse in on itself," Tarpey told CTV News Edmonton.
"We're certainly going to secure that."
According to the mayor, downtown Peace River could remain closed for weeks – and along with it, downtown businesses.
"All the restaurants was having a hard time because we couldn’t do any dine-ins," Lee said of his business before the flooding.
Wow Grill management hopes it'll pass a health inspection Tuesday afternoon so it can reopen sooner.
Peace River is discussing lifting its state of local emergency Tuesday, as well.
With a report from CTV News Edmonton's Bill Fortier
