CHRISTIANSBURG, Va. (WDBJ) – Some of our hometowns experienced severe storms, which led to flash flooding, damaging communities, and businesses like Farmland Equipment in Christiansburg.
Now that the water is gone and the debris is left behind, the true cleanup process begins.
“By 6.30 or so, 7 o’clock, it was 10 to 14 inches of water running through my parking lot.”
For Greg Canode, Thursday was just like any other day at Farmland Equipment, a business his father had opened in the 1970s.
However, the heavy rains soon came, leaving dried mud and debris in their wake.
“It did come up pretty fast and, you know, I tried to sandbag what I could keep… I did get a little bit in my business,” Canode said. ”Some of my products got wet because I wasn’t planning on rain. Or I planned on rain, but I didn’t plan on like five or however many inches there were.”
Farmland Equipment is one of several businesses along Radford Road damaged by the floodwater.
“Most of us are all small family-owned businesses. My neighbors across the road and the recycling center, we’re all family-owned,” he said. “I’ve got to try to get the mud out of my parking lot and get some things cleaned up.”
That cleaning effort will be difficult, but with a helping hand from neighbors like Ricky Witt, it may be a little easier.
“They’ve been here way before I was. So, they help the community out,” Witt said. “They fix tractors and stuff when people don’t have any money. So, they kind of—everybody comes together as a community to help each other out. It’s the best way to be.”
With all the help Greg is receiving, he is hoping to be open by Monday.
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