Thursday, July 22, at around 5:30 p.m. we got some rain. In fact we got over 8 inches of rain in about 2 hours. In spite of clearing the storm drains of debris, the intersection, then the neigborhood, flooded. The crew of drain checkers and stuck car pushers included myself, Alex , Anthony, and Garrett, all from the shop, and my friends Dave and Jocelyn, and numerous others from the neighborhood. Their efforts at least saved several vehicles and possibly the drivers and passengers in them. Thanks to everyone who went out there Thursday night and helped out.

In my store, Wade's Guitar Shop, water poured in through cracks in doors and wall panels, but was hindered enough to only fill the basement 5 feet deep, preventing water from accumulating on the main floor. Both of my neighbors suffered more water in their buildings than we did, probably due to more ways for the water to get in. The reports I've heard about apartments, houses, and businesses nearby, are similar or worse than me.

No guitars on the main floor were damaged including no wet customer repairs. However, everything in the basement (i.e. all of the inventory overstock, cases, tools, and lesson studio) was a complete loss. We had about an inch or two of water flow through the sales floor on it's way to the basement. It never got higher than that as the basement took all of the volume. We had just enought time to take anything valuable on or near the floor and move it to higher ground. At the apex of the deluge, about 8 p.m., the water was 3 to 4 ft above the thresholds of the front and back doors. Doors and windows held, and by about 9:30 the levels were down enough that we could go outside and clear the debris from the storm gutters, allowing the intersection to completely drain.

The clean-up has gone pretty quick. Along with the Wade's Guitar Shop crew we got help from my son Kidd, my brother Jeff, my nephew Zach and his friend and co-worker Sean, and Joe. We also got quick assistance of fans and de-humidifiers from Don at ServiceMaster. I was shocked at how quickly we were able to gut the basement and scrub it top to bottom. My current phone message says we'll be closed for at least a week but I think we can open on Tuesday or Wednesday. Check out our FLICKR page for more photos. Don't worry, we're not going anywhere.

-Wade Starck, Wade's Guitar Shop