LACROSSE, Kansas?? Multiple tornadoes struck Central Kansas last Memorial weekend. The town of La Crosse was hit by one those twisters, an EF-1.
"Tornado seemed to hit the south end of town pretty good. It done some damage to, quite a bit of damage to our building. It wound up to be about a quarter of a million dollars of damage to our building," said Rick Weigal, owner of Rick's Food Store in La Crosse.
Weigal's grocery store was hit hard: windows busted, food tossed, and the back wall almost blown out completely. Months later, it's almost a distant memory though and the store looks brand new.
Rick was able to re-open the store a week after the storm, with the help of his employees and the community.
"My manager came down right away that nigh. He said there were 15-20 people waiting here to help board up windows and you know to clean up. I had to turn people away because we had so many people coming in wanting to help clean up the store,"said Weigal.
Rick's store was not the only one hit though on May 25th. A salon directly next door to the food store was almost non-existent.
"I was a nervous wreck," Christina McAlister said.
McAlister owns Reflections Hair Salon. The limestone building roof was ripped off and the inside was unrecognizable the day she saw it, after the tornado struck.
The LaCrosse community helped her out, just like Rick.
"We had a lot of friends and family that come together, that definitely helped out with taking the salon down. If it wasn't for them I probably wouldn't be here already," she commented.
With the help of the community, she was able to rebuild an entirely new salon and open up in three months. This time she designed the building exactly how she wanted it, with new additions.
Christina said, "We've definitely been able to add a few more stations, because we only had two stations in the last building, and we also have a tanning bed now. I always try to think positive about stuff."
Now, Rick and Christina are both past the tornado damage shock, but they are reminded of the devastation as they see the images from Hurricane Sandy on the east coast.
"I wish everyone the best of luck with any disaster they have to go through, especially with the hurricane right now," said Christina
Rick added, "Your heart just goes out to those people."
As the rest of the town of La Crosse continues to move forward, both business owners can't help but look back and be thankful.
"I'm glad the community helped me out, when I needed help," explained Rick.
His store will be done with its final repairs by this December.
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/49863646/ns/local_news-wichita_ks/
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