Photo: Jennifer Zielinski

As the door was about to close on the Little Hobo’s Lawrence street location disaster struck.

Owners Crystal and Steve McDonald were locking up just half an hour later than usual, when Steve heard a strange noise. Water began streaming out from the floorboards under the window ledge.

“I ripped off the counter and ripped up the floorboards but we couldn’t find where the water was coming from,” explained Steve. "If we had left at our usual time who knows how long the water would have ran for."

The City of Kelowna was called in to shut off the water main but by the time they arrived and the job was complete water had been running for 45 minutes.

Next door at Olive and Elle the crawlspace also began to flood.

“I feel like the Little Hobo is crying, because we are leaving,” said a sad Crystal.

The couple is moving to a new larger location on Bertram Street.

However, as the electricity is now turned off it’s unclear what can be saved -- food is going bad in the fridge and the appliances (that will also be used in the new place) might be ruined.

A restoration company was called in to assess the damage and while the McDonalds have insurance the flood is still bad for business.

The Little Hobo was to reopen in its new location the first week of October but depending on the damage it could be a lot longer.

Crystal and Steve decided to move locations after being voted Best in B.C. by TripAdvisor several years ago which caused a boom in business, and it hasn’t slowed down since.

Photo: Contributed