Burst hose floods Langley food pantry, forces temporary closure
Flooding from a burst hose shut Queen-Bee Pantry in Langley, knocking out computers and food-service gear just as South Whidbey demand keeps climbing.
A burst hose sent about four inches of water through Queen-Bee Pantry’s new Langley storefront, forcing the South Whidbey food pantry to close temporarily and stripping away equipment it needs to serve families.
The damage hit the building at 5826 Kramer Road after what had started as a Mother’s Day flower sale on Sunday. Tanya Hernandez-Garzon said the hose, left unattended upstairs, burst and water poured through the ceiling into the pantry’s newly opened space. By the time the leak was discovered Sunday afternoon, the flooding had spread through other businesses in the building too, but the pantry took the hardest hit.
The loss went well beyond soaked floors. Computers, business licenses, carpets, furniture, sweatshirt merchandise and even a bench being auctioned off were ruined. Queen-Bee Pantry is now shut down while it works with insurance, waits for asbestos testing and prepares for restoration crews to remove damaged materials and rebuild walls and flooring.
For families across Whidbey Island, the closure cuts into a service that has grown fast because the need has grown faster. Hernandez-Garzon founded Queen-Bee Pantry in March 2024, first running it from her home in Greenbank after leaving her job as operations manager for Whidbey Island Angels, which closed that April. The pantry later expanded from her garage into a larger operation, serving somewhere between 80 and 150 people a week in 2024 and helping about 7,000 people last year.
The pantry has said most of its demand comes from South Whidbey, especially Clinton, but it serves people from Clinton to Oak Harbor. In October, it said 60% to 70% of its clients also used SNAP, underscoring how closely the pantry is tied to a wider food-security problem in Island County, where 6.4% of households receive SNAP benefits.
Queen-Bee Pantry had been preparing to open the Langley site as a 1,000-square-foot storefront with shelf-stable food and hygiene items, and it still needs a commercial fridge costing about $2,000 to $2,500 to add milk and ground beef. The pantry is also still planning a car wash and bake sale on May 24 at Bayview Appliance & Mattress Center in Langley, and it continues to accept food donations through its website. Organizers have also asked for monthly donors and volunteers as they try to restock, repair and reopen.
The closure lands in the middle of a harder season for Island County food programs. Public health data cited last year showed local households leaning more heavily on assistance, while food banks across Whidbey have reported rising demand, tighter funding and fewer resources to meet it. Queen-Bee Pantry’s flooding is a reminder that one broken hose can interrupt a critical service, and that recovery will depend on donations, labor and enough repairs to get the doors open again.
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