Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, August 5, 1994 TAG: 9408050093
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: PETERSBURG LENGTH: Medium
Many thought Petersburg's historic district was destroyed when the tornado battered the region last summer - killing four people, injuring 170 and ripping apart many of the antebellum Georgian brick buildings, Roy said.
But the building she leased last fall was mildly damaged by the storm and quickly repaired. Most of the Old Towne businesses have reopened and several new ones have blossomed in the past year, she said.
``We weren't all blown away,'' Roy said. ``This is such a wonderful area down here. I knew that once the buildings were repaired people would come back. ... And people are coming back.''
The storm damaged nearly $54 million in property. Three of the dead and 119 of the injured were found in the ruins of a Wal-Mart store in nearby Colonial Heights.
A historic black neighborhood was battered and the core of Petersburg's revitalization efforts - its antebellum district - was torn apart.
But the same city that bounced back from a devastating 1815 fire, a 10-month siege during the Civil War and the loss in 1985 of its top employer, the Brown and Williamson Inc. tobacco company, is bouncing back again, city leaders say.
``This city has always survived,'' said William Martin, the city's tourism director.
The Old Towne merchants association is sponsoring a ``Big Blowout'' street festival Saturday to celebrate the city's resiliency over the past year. Many property owners say they are proud of how their city has rallied, but they also say they have spent the year frazzled and frustrated, battling red tape with government agencies and insurance companies.
While many Old Towne buildings have been restored, others look much as they did immediately following the storm.
Many residents were frustrated by the federal government's response to their disaster. The Federal Emergency Management Agency denied a request for disaster assistance for the area in the weeks after the storm. The area did get assistance from the Small Business Administration, which made loans available. In December, FEMA reversed its earlier decision, which allowed the SBA loan deadline to be extended.
Some Old Towne business owners said it might have been easier to simply take their insurance money and open up shop somewhere else.
``We were all just frustrated,'' said George Pilarinos, co-owner of The Appomattox Iron Works, a string of retail buildings inside a restored 1816 foundry that sustained $1.5 million in damage. ``But these buildings are too important to be lost. The economy of the city depends on it.''
Pilarinos, who also sits on City Council, said he got a $75,000 emergency advance from his insurance company. But he had to sue the company, which he declined to name, to get the rest of the settlement about two months ago. Money also is just beginning to trickle in from loans, he said.
Wal-Mart rebuilt much more quickly.
In the weeks after the storm, Wal-Mart set up a temporary store at another shopping center in Colonial Heights and opened a new store Feb.12 about a quarter-mile from the demolished one. In April, the discount retailer opened a Sam's Club on the old store site.
A plaque outside the Wal-Mart pays tribute to two employees and a customer killed when the tornado cut a 50-foot swath through the store. The fourth victim was working at a Prince George County construction site.
On Petersburg's Pocahontas Island, one of the first American communities to be settled by freed slaves, residents slowly are getting back to normal. Many of the island's 125 residents are elderly.
Fifty-six homes on Pocahontas, many of them substandard to begin with, were damaged. More than $750,000 in grants and donations have paid for repairs, Petersburg Mayor Rosalyn Dance said.
Some Pocahontas residents now fear they will have to pay higher real estate taxes because their property values have increased, said Pilarinos, whose ward includes the island.
The twister was the deadliest one to hit Virginia since 1959, when 10 people were killed in Albemarle County.
by CNB