SOUTH BOSTON, Va. – UPDATE
Cleanup was still underway Thursday evening in parts of Southwest Virginia after Wednesday’s flash flooding.
Several businesses in South Boston that don’t often flood, including Badcock Furniture, were hit hard.
“It’s a mess and we’ve got a lot of cleanup to do,” said Badcock Furniture owner Howell Sides.
A lot of cleanup may be an understatement.
“Everything will get salvaged. A salvage company will come in and they’ll remove everything. Then, we’ve got to get in here and replace carpet and floors and counters. We’ll just have to start over,” said Sides.
The store appears to have been hit the hardest of all the businesses in the Hupps Mill Shopping Plaza.
Sides said employees tried to keep the water out, but the effort was too little too late.
“I called the store about 10 minutes to 6 and they said a little bit of water was coming in the back door,” Sides explained. ”There were sandbags up there already, but a little bit of water was coming through so they were trying to move some stuff out of the warehouse out to the showroom. Eighteen minutes later, they called me. They were standing in front of the store because the water had already started rising.”
At the opposite end of the plaza, employees at the Shoppers Value grocery store were throwing away produce ruined by the floodwater and cleaning mud off the floor.
“It shook me. When you come in, it’s slippery. We’re going to do the best we can to get it cleaned up, to get it rolling. Whatever we can do,” said Robert Lipscomb.
The manager was hopeful the store could reopen Friday.
Badcock Furniture, though, likely won’t be so lucky.
Sides did not know Thursday how long the store would be closed. He said he’s never had to deal with anything like this before.
ORIGINAL STORY
Some businesses in Southside have a lot of work to do after Wednesday’s flooding.
Several businesses in the Hupps Mill Shopping Plaza in South Boston were flooded, including Badcock Furniture.
Some of the furniture and appliances in the showroom look like they could be cleaned up and sold, but the owner says everything in the showroom is likely a total loss.
Walking around, there’s mud and water all over the floor and the carpet is soaked through and through. According to the owner, everything happened in a span of 18 minutes.
Sandbags were put up out back when employees noticed water in the parking lot, but it was too little too late.
“A little bit of water was coming through, so they were trying to move some stuff out of the warehouse out to the showroom and everything,” said Howell Sides, owner of Badcock Furniture. “Eighteen minutes later, they called me. They were standing in front of the store because the water had already started rising. We actually got right at 19 inches of water.”
As for how long the store will be closed, the owner says he has no idea because he’s never been through anything like this before.