A power outage caused by this morning’s torrential rains brought business to a standstill for some retailers on Front Street.

Electricity was cut at around 10.15am after a transformer located outside the AS Cooper store was flooded.

Although Belco engineers were quickly on the scene, shop owners had to wait almost three hours before the supply was reconnected — resulting in a loss of business for some retailers.

Anjula Bean, owner of the Juice and Beans cafe, said: “We’ve only been able to serve cold drinks, and even then only until the ice runs out.

“We can’t serve hot drinks or smoothies or hot food — it’s definitely not good for business. And then I have to consider everything that’s in the fridge and freezer — I could end up having to throw that out.

“So we’re losing money at a time when we can’t afford to lose money, and yet I still have to pay my Belco bill.”

Front Street Wine and Spirits salesman Scott DeSilva was able to continue serving customers, even though his cash register was out of action.

“I’m having to write down all the sales and then, when power does come back on, I’ll have to input them all into the register,” he said.

Mr DeSilva said he was in the store when the power was cut.

“There was a whopping great bang and everything went out — it frightened the life out of me.”

A Belco spokesman confirmed that 13 businesses located between Queen Street and Burnaby Hill were affected by the outage.

Water had to be pumped out of the vault housing the transformer before it could be repaired.

“As of 12.55pm, restoration work has been completed, and power has been restored to the 13 customers on Front Street,” the spokesman said.

“We thank these customers for their patience and cooperation today.”