Today has been kind of a wearying day.........no time for tea or posting about it!!
Found out yesterday that the building where I have an antiques booth was hit by a tornado on Saturday! I read Monday's paper, saw the word tornado in the headlines, but did not look at the picture, and turned the page.
My mom came home yesterday, and said she had driven by the shop and it looked like it had been hit by a tornado!!
I got in my car and ran over, and sure enough, half the roof was missing and insulation, tin roofing, wood and glass were strewn everywhere. Alot of the tin roof ended up across the two lane road into the farmer's field, at least 500 yards or more away! Fortunately, the horses living in that field, had not been there on Saturday!!!
By some miracle, no one was hurt - it happened on Saturday - at 10 minutes to 5 - just before closing. The owner was hurrying customers out of the back - because they close promptly at 5pm. All who had been in the back were near the register, when the winds hit. One of the cashiers almost got sucked out the front door as she tried to close it.Everyone hunkered down behind the counter, and it was over before they knew it. The back area where the customers had just been standing was totally destroyed!!! The roof lifted off, the chimney crashed in, the beams and a/c duct work collapsed, and the windows imploded. AND, the area's Doppler Radar station INSISTS there was no tornadic activity in that area on Saturday!!!!
The good news is - no one was hurt!!!! The other good news is that the little room where my mom and I have our booths, was totally spared! The bad news is some vendors lost all their inventory and display cases.
We spent today, along with other dealers, removing all our stuff. The building needs to be totally empty while they renovate. Hopefully, they will be open for business again in September.
It is sad, because almost all of the dealers I have met, are the sweetest people, mostly retired, doing this for fun (certainly not for big money), others are trying to eke a meager income to supplement their " habit" or daily living.
I hope to go back, but am still mulling it over. This is the 2nd time this building has been hit by heavy winds in 2 years. I was not aware of the first time. As much as I love having a "real" shop, I may keep selling on eBay for a while and see how that goes.
Another sour note today, was hearing about some of the dance bags and totes I made for a dance studio. One sold right away - yay!!!- but a friend checked, and two of the most expensive ones are missing and unaccounted for. I was going to give it a month or so, to see how they sold, but now I am not sure.
Oh, well, things could definitely be worse!! When one door shuts, another opens- I just have to find that darn door!!! LOL
Sorry for your troubles with the building with the antique shop booths and also with the missing dancing bags. I love how the weather service says NO tornado hit. One time we had a shed that was in our yard lifted straight up AND deposited in our swimming pool......the things inside the shed were still standing. Weather service said NO tornado there, either, but our insurance company thought otherwise.
ReplyDeleteSo sorry to hear about this! I'm sure moving everything from your booth was not your plan for the day! At least no one was hurt!!
ReplyDeleteOMGosh!! I'm so glad to hear no one was hurt! It is sad that it had to spoil the fun for the vendors and customers. Maybe they need to think of moving it slightly to get out of a windy cross current or something. Anyway, glad everyone is safe, take care :)
ReplyDeleteWhat a close call for you and your Mom. Strange weather Huh! I don't recall hearing about any tornadoes in Va but it sure does sound like a tornado by the pics and description. I always feel so bad for all the animals in a tornado or other act of nature. You take care, I just love reading your blog. Lennie
ReplyDeleteoh Pat, so sorry for these turn of events....your last line says it all....you will find the new door!
ReplyDeleteoxoxo
The official weather analysis is that it was NOT a tornado - but a "micro-burst". In their opinion, had the back door been closed , the damage would not have been what it was!!! Oh, so it's the store's fault because the back door was open at an inopportune time!!! LOL It was tornado enough for the folks in the building at the time!!!It did get the weather officials curious enough to come out and investigate it in person- since Doppler could NOT be wrong!!!
ReplyDeleteWow! So glad you and Mom's stuff was spared. I hope you are back in business quickly.
ReplyDeleteTornadoes are truly frightening. Straight line winds are blamed for "tornadic" damage around these parts quite often.
Pat, are you living in *THE* Shenandoah Valley?
ReplyDeleteSorry about the tornado/microburst. Gald no one was hurt.