More than a week after a toxic tank emergency at GKN Aerospace triggered a massive evacuation in Orange County, thousands of businesses are trying to count the damage and recover lost sales, as crews shift to cleanup and local officials urge small owners to ap
For more than a week, the hardest part for Ziyu Zhang wasn’t deciding whether her family restaurant could survive the shutdown. It was finding a way to count what the shutdown cost.
At the counter of Chic Now Hainan Chicken Rice in Stanton, she’s been tallying losses compared to Memorial Day last year, estimating the business is down about $10,000 in sales. She says the evacuation forced her restaurant to shut down for days during a period that was expected to be busy.
“Instead of her normal day-to-day work. Zhang… is tasked with tallying how much money her small business lost. ” the week after the toxic tank emergency at GKN Aerospace triggered a massive evacuation across Orange County. The hazmat situation also meant more than missed foot traffic. Zhang estimates her inventory losses came to around $2,000.
“We also lost like about 2K in inventory. We threw all the chicken, the rice, the vegetable, we need to prepare everything new for our customer,” Zhang said.
Her business was one of around 5,000 in Orange County forced to evacuate because of a hazmat incident at nearby GKN Aerospace in Garden Grove. Fire crews feared an explosion or toxic spill, and the fear quickly turned into empty days for businesses that rely on steady customer flow.
Zhang says her restaurant cleared out Thursday of last week and reopened a day ago. The delay didn’t just hit revenue. It hit a fragile rhythm already strained by costs.
“We stayed at home waiting for the notice every day that, you know, right now the economy is not good and the rent is so high and the cost is raised as well,” Zhang said.
The math has stayed painful: she estimates the shutdown amounted to roughly 25% of what would typically be earned across the month’s early stretch.
“Stop for one week, it’s going to be like 25 percent of the whole month, the sales volume, the revenue,” Zhang said.
Orange County Supervisor Janet Nguyen is pushing business owners to apply for federal help, saying it’s a practical next step for keeping small companies from getting buried under losses they didn’t cause.
Nguyen says small business owners should fill out the SBA Economic Injury Disaster Loan worksheet for businesses. She described a process that begins with the form being submitted, then routed through local channels before reaching the Small Business Administration.
“We want to make sure our businesses survive. It’s an unfortunate situation, something that we don’t want to happen, didn’t anticipate it,” Nguyen said. “They fill it out. send it to the sheriff’s department. we would then submit it over to SBA. which is the small businesses administration. then from there the small business administration will work with the business owner to see what they can offer and how they can assist.”.
Zhang says she is already working to get that relief moving—submitting the form and contacting insurance, hoping for some kind of reset for her family’s business.
While businesses reopen and families return to routine, the response at GKN has shifted. Crews at GKN in Garden Grove have moved out of the emergency response phase and are now focused on cleanup efforts. The Orange County Health Care Agency is overseeing the cleanup.
For businesses like Zhang’s, the transition to cleanup hasn’t brought the same relief yet. The evacuation is over, but the week of lost sales—and the inventory that had to be discarded—remains real. Now the fight is less about the emergency itself and more about what comes after: whether a small business can absorb a sudden loss and keep doors open long enough for normal business to return.
Garden Grove GKN Aerospace toxic tank emergency hazmat incident evacuation Orange County businesses small business losses SBA Economic Injury Disaster Loan Janet Nguyen Chic Now Hainan Chicken Rice Stanton inventory losses
So did they ever figure out what was actually in the tank or is it just “hazmat” forever?
That’s brutal. $10k down in sales for a restaurant is no joke. Hope they get some kind of relief or insurance actually helps.
Wait I thought the businesses were evacuated because of like smoke or something? If it was toxic tank scare then why was everyone shut down for days like it’s a bomb threat. Seems like they could’ve done a partial reopening or idk.
Orange County always “urges small owners” like that fixes the books. They say they’re counting the damage but meanwhile Memorial Day season is gone. Also how you just toss $2k in food?? They probably should’ve had a better warning timeline or someone’s paperwork got messed up.