One is town fire Chief Rusty Bolt, whose Fire Station 1 sustained extensive roof damage when the roof from the classroom building of the Evangelical Church of Deliverance smashed into it during the storm.
The other is Bill Blackwell, whose Rivertown Tire sustained roof damage when the heavy winds tousled 2,000 square feet of rubber membrane, making it look like a poorly made bed and dumping 4 inches of water into the business.
While one is a public sector service and the other a private sector business, the losses were crucial for both. They were both busy today making sure things ran smoothly, Bolt making quick repairs to his building and Blackwell securing a generator to keep his tire business open during the duration of the recovery efforts.
While Weldon has two fire stations, the idea, Bolt said, is to keep engines on both sides of the train tracks to provide for the quickest response.
The repairs the fire department began making today won't be the final solution, but a fix to keep trucks at both stations. “We need to get it fixed or find somewhere to store them before the freeze,” Bolt said.
This is not only to keep the diesel from gelling but to keep water pipes from freezing and bursting.
Sunday Blackwell and another business owner were talking about how they could keep their businesses open. They learned of two generators in Atlanta and bought them, the machines shipped by 8 this morning.
With a generator running the air compressor that Blackwell keeps on his service truck, the business came. A backhoe doing recovery work was brought to the business as well as a Bobcat which was working on recovery operations. “We had an interstate traveler that needed work done a special tire.”
Even as Blackwell talked, more customers were coming up, either for prices or repairs.
That the only machine running was the tire changer and that it was done with light only from the sun, didn't matter. “We're used to doing things the old fashioned way. My intention is to be back tomorrow. It's been a steady flow. We've seen some new faces. It hasn't been a boom day but it's a day we wanted to be open for.”
Blackwell credits his longtime technician Joe Mills. “One of the things that allowed us to open is his skills. Some say you need special equipment. We look at it as a craft.”
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