As Tropical Depression Fred moved through Northeast Georgia Tuesday, some Habersham residents and business owners saw damage from the storm that left them in shock.
Homeowner Chris Norton was at work in Cornelia when he got a call that a tree had fallen on his home in Demorest, leaving the back of the home crushed and the roof in extreme disrepair. He and his daughter live there; luckily, she was at her aunt’s when the tree came down.
Concerned neighbor Brandon Grissom, a Demorest citizen and owner of All American Roofing, saw a firetruck come through the neighborhood during the storm. Grissom went to check out the situation after the tornado warning ended.
“As soon as the storm let up a little bit, we came over here to see what was going on,” says Grissom. “I’ve seen a lot of trees on roofs, and this is up there with the worst [I’ve seen].”
Norton is thankful no one was hurt, but the damage to his home is extensive. For now, he’s working on the next steps with insurance coverage.
Cornelia business “Structure Hair & Co.” saw nearly a foot of flooding from the tropical depression rise outside the salon’s door, which eventually made its way inside. Owner Shelby Askew is moving to another salon to continue work while hers is undergoing repairs.
Askew says this has happened before. In October, Hurricane Delta caused the same phenomenon to occur, but Askew says Delta brought in four feet of water. She says she’d only recently settled back into her salon, and is having to start the process all over again.
“I hope this doesn’t happen again– I’ve got to find a way for it to not happen again, but it’s going to take the city stepping in to help,” Askew says.
She tells Now Habersham that the drain near her business can’t handle all the water that flows to it. She says that when the Cornelia Fire Department arrived after the storm to clear away the debris on the drain, the water receded within ten minutes.
As she prepares to move and wait to return to her salon, Askew is ready to tackle what comes next and lean on her community for support. Both Askew and Norton were able to find someone in their community to help– for Norton, it was a local roofing company ready to help, and for Askew, it was a nearby salon willing to give her space to continue her work.
“You do what you’ve got to do,” Askew says. “Community comes together, that’s all you can do.”
