Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, July 1, 1995 TAG: 9507030059
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RON BROWN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BUENA VISTA LENGTH: Medium
That's how much the hundreds of spools of carpet yarn, soaked beyond repair in Wednesday's flood, would have sold for if delivered as expected.
The activities Friday at Painter Space Print Inc. were repeated at most downtown Buena Vista businesses and homes.
The flood was over and the paperwork had begun.
Four teams, comprised mostly of schoolteachers, canvassed the city, assessing damage as best they could. The reports will go to the Red Cross, which the city hopes will provide assistance such as food and shelter for those who need it.
Painter's assessment began in the heap of soggy yarn behind his factory. He estimates that more than 200,000 pounds of yarn was ruined by rampaging water and mud.
Inside his plant, workers used brooms, squeegees and hoses to clear away the nearly 4 inches of mud the flood had left as they tried to separate good yarn from bad.
"Until we get stuff moved, we don't know how much damage we have," Painter said.
Elsewhere in the plant, maintenance workers were taking apart electric motors and gearboxes, cleaning them, and getting them ready for when the factory goes back on line next week.
"I've been busy," he said. "I've got a lot of people working here."
During a normal day, the plant would be spinning multicolored yarn used by carpet manufacturers in most of the Southeastern United States and Japan.
It was not the first time that Painter and his 80 employees have faced such a task.
"It wasn't as bad as it was in '85,'' Painter said. "I had $2 million in damage in '85."
Donna Lily was working in the plant Wednesday morning when flood waters hit for the second time in a week.
She said when water started seeping through the door, some workers tried to fend it off with brooms, squeegees and wet vacs, while others tried to push the yarn to higher ground.
But Carol Martin, another worker, said the water came up so quickly that there was no turning it back.
"We usually try to get everything off the floor," she said. "This time, the water got up before the warnings got out."
Shortly before noon, the Red Cross assessors stopped at the plant as employees sat on the steps outside and ate lunch.
"We need to put major damage on this one?" asked Richard Roberts, who teaches science to sixth-graders at the city's Parry McCluer Middle School.
His partner, J.R. Lineberry, who teaches eighth-grade civics, agreed.
Ironically, one of Lineberry's lesson plans this spring dealt with the city's flood-control project and its impact on taxes.
"I'll talk a lot about the flood this year," he said.
Red Cross assessors were asked to rate damage, which ranged from ``none'' to ``destroyed.'' Most of downtown Buena Vista was falling in a "major damage" category, one step down from "destroyed."
A house that water was twisted off its foundation rated a "destroyed."
While damage forms were being completed, the consequences were being played out in very human terms.
Ruby Hall, 76, lost her husband in February. Her family and friends rallied around her and helped her clean debris from her Magnolia Avenue house.
The carpet inside was so stiff and heavy with mud, they had to cut in into small sections to remove it.
"We never had this happen before," she said. "We've never had water in the house."
On Wednesday, she saw the water coming out back. She grabbed her coat and, by the time she walked out front, the water was shin deep.
"It nearly knocked me down three or four times," she said. Luckily, she caught a ride away from the house with a firefighter.
Hall said her most personal loss was an album of photographs containing her son's baby pictures.
Lyle Hartsook's contribution to the recovery effort came in a different form.
On Friday, he and his family stood serving hamburgers and hot dogs from a tiny Salvation Army mobile canteen, known as the Amen Wagon, while a group of children gathered outside.
As he watched them smile, drink a few free soft drinks and play in the sunshine, he reflected on what had brought him here.
"In 1990, I asked God to use me and he has," he said. "I like to see the relief on people's faces when we help them out."
by CNB