Gaston County businesses reopen after tornadoes ravage area
CRAMTERON, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — Businesses in downtown Cramerton have reopened just in time for the weekend after they were forced to close for three days.
Wednesday’s storms that included tornadoes knocked out power in the Gaston County community.
It’s been tough to power through at Floyd & Blackie’s bakery, coffee and ice cream shop this week.
Gaston County’s state of emergency ends at 5 p.m. Friday
“Oh geez, it’s not good for a small business,” said owner Kathy Ramsey.
Sign after sign on Center Street sport the same message telling customers that businesses were closed because of no power.
“The power blinked, I was like please don’t, please don’t, power went out, so the vendors looked at me. They’re like, ‘Is it bad? What does it look like?’ I said a tornado,” said Justin Aremia, owner of Mayworth’s Public House.
Floyd & Blackie’s had to scramble to find another business that allowed them to borrow their freezer for some of their baked goods.
“Thank goodness we have a generator that has saved our ice cream,” said Ramsey.
But what they couldn’t save is lost revenue.
“We rent kayaks out of here and on the South Fork River, right at our doorstep and we can’t do that without power,” said Eric Smallwood, deputy director of the Catawba Riverkeeper Foundation.
Mayworth’s Public House was just bought by new owners last week.
“It hurts, it really does, especially being brand new, but we’re just hoping to pull through it,” said Aremia.
Now that the lights are back on, the timing is sweet for a big weekend – and the weather looks ideal for being out and about.
“We have several parties booked this weekend, we have a very large Mother’s Day brunch planned for Sunday,” said Ramsey.
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Confluence, a center run by the Catawba Riverkeeper, will begin its kayak rental season on Saturday.
“This is definitely a hotspot on the weekends for paddlers, for people who like to listen to music or look at art,” said Smallwood.
They’re all back in business. Floyd & Blackie’s is grateful for the support from Gaston County stalwart Sammy’s Neighborhood Pub and their freezer space.
“They’ll all be getting cakes coming soon free of charge,” said Ramsey laughing.
They’re hoping they can make up for lost revenue knowing some things they can’t control.
“It’s just mother nature and she has full reign on what she’s doing,” said Ramsey.
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