After tornado, small businesses in Portage work to recover
PORTAGE, Mich. (WOOD) — Small businesses in Kalamazoo County hit by last week’s tornado are working to get back on their feet as Federal Emergency Management Agency crews begin arriving to help with relief efforts.
The scope of damage to State Farm agent Ken Rose’s Portage office is still setting in.
“In my office, I left about five to seven minutes before the tornado hit,” Rose said. “But some of my neighbors, there were customers in their facilities.”
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The insurance agent is used to helping his customers after severe weather moves through the area, but now he also has to work to get his office reopened.
“It’s starting to hit me,” he said. “It was pure triage to mitigate loss, trying to get our equipment out so we could help more customers.”
Rose says the building will need to be torn down. He has been looking for other locations, unsure if he will be able to return.
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About 50 of his customers have already filed claims for damage to their homes.
Some employees are working remotely, while others are working at a mobile response site set up in the Lowe’s parking lot on South Westnedge Avenue.
“The advice I’d have for people is to be careful, one, to mitigate their damage, to do temporary repairs, keep receipts, take pictures, documentation. Things like that,” Rose said.
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The director of Kalamazoo County Emergency Management says the primary provider of relief will be insurance companies. FEMA can provide help with deductibles and other costs for those hardest hit, and the Small Business Administration has loan programs for items not covered by insurance.
Next door, the general manager of Great Wall Express can’t believe just how close the building came to destruction.
“The lights started to flicker and then the power went out, and I could see rotation behind the gas station across the street,” Stephen Chase said. “And I was able to get some people in from outside and get them into our shelter, which is our walk-in cooler.”
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The business is grateful it was able to reopen on Saturday.
“The biggest challenge for us to reopen was probably the power outage,” Chase said.
Some vents were knocked over on the roof, and the business had to restock all its food after power was restored.
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The outpouring of support has gone beyond what the restaurant expected. A customer even painted the storefront to show appreciation for the long-standing business.
“A lot of people are very glad that we’re OK,” Chase said. “Some people have just called to check in to make sure that we’re OK and to see if we’re open. Other people have come up just to check in.”
The FEMA crews are expected to be evaluating the hardest hit areas within the coming days.
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