Birmingham business owner frustrated with flood water clean-up

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBRC) – Flood waters from the June 8 downpour has one Birmingham business owner full of frustration.

Gus Head Hunters is a unisex barber shop in Birmingham and owner Gus Bibb said when he walked into work Wednesday morning, he thought he was at the lake. Bibb said there was two to three inches of flood waters coming out of his shop’s front doors.

Bibb said he spent the entire day cleaning and the flooded floors are bad for business. He said the water got underneath the wood paneling, so he had to pull up the floor, dry it out, and then put the floor back.

Bibb said the building has been flooding for the last two years and he has spent around ten thousand dollars in flood repairs.

He said he thinks it’s all because the abandoned shop next door has a caved in roof, causing the water to pool up and come into to his shop from the floors and walls.

“It’s really frustrating when you are constantly trying to earn a living, reach out to the people that own the place, call the city, and even call the county,” Bibb said. “I just hope they can get the people that own the building to repair the building. All they have to do is repair the building and this will cease.”

Bibb said he’s tried the building owners and the city, but hasn’t ever heard back.

WBRC reached out to the city and they said the best thing to do to stop the flooding is file a code violation for the next door roof with the Planning, Engineering and Permits division. That will bring a city worker out to check out the roof and if it is a violation, they can look for liens and previous violations. They can also place a new lien on the property until it is repaired. City officials said since the building is likely privately owned, this would be a way to try and fix Bibb’s flooding issues.

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