Blowing in the wind

News

(MEMPHIS, TN 2/6/2008) The Hickory Ridge Mall took a beating from Mother Nature Tuesday night. Severe storms tore off portions of the roof and walls...

I was glued to The Weather Channel last night, waiting to see where disaster would strike as a strong cold front hit the warm air throughout our region. It was a prime set-up for tornados, and disasters like that give me job security and pay our bills. Like predicted, the tornados started spawning, and the weathermen started cackling and hooting and excitedly displaying the carnage. When I saw the footage from the Hickory Ridge Mall in Memphis, I told David I should go ahead and pack my bags - especially when I received confirmation that one of the heaviest hit stores was one of my best clients. Sure enough, I got the first phone call at 8am this morning (ok, technically the first phone call was at midnight, but fortunately I slept through that one). Soon after, I had packed my bags and hit the road toward Memphis.

I never cease to be amazed by the true devastation that a tornado can cause. On my way to Memphis, I got stuck in traffic outside of Jackson, Tennessee, as they were trying to right tractor-trailers that had been turned over in the road by a tornado. That was in the midst of a path of 2ft-plus diameter trees that had been uprooted and tossed about and road signs that had been twisted into amazing metal sculptures. I also saw a car that was literally unrecognizable as any kind of a vehicle, as it had been thrown into so many trees after it was picked up from the highway. I'm sure the driver of that car was one of the fatalities reported.

Based on the information provided by The Weather Channel, I was expecting to find my store obliterated. But, it was actually in pretty good condition, all things considering. Sure, a portion of the front wall was missing, and there was a little bit of water damage due to tears in the roof membrane, but all in all, the damage to the interior was relatively minor. Proof yet again that you can never trust what you hear on the news.

Of course, due to confidentiality reasons, I can't give you specific details about my client or their store name, but here's a picture of the damage. I'm sure some of my more-intuitive readers may be able to deduce the name of the store. :)



I've heard rumors that Hillary Clinton and Barrck Obama are both supposed to be coming into town on Friday to survey the damage and will be at the mall. Another good reason for me to finish up my work tomorrow (Thursday) and get out of town!