PARKERSBURG - A downtown business may be the first to go under because of damages from the storm on June 29.
Beverly Yeager of the Daily Grind on Market Street said she lost all her perishable meats and cheeses and can't afford to restock the inventory so she can reopen.
"I barely make it the way it is," she said.
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Photo by Jeff Baughan
Daily Grind owner Beverly Yeager said her restaurant closed after last Friday's devastating storm, which left most of Wood County in the dark.
A severe storm on June 29 disrupted power to thousands of Monongahela Power customers and several thousand remain without electricity a week after a derecho that started in Indiana and went through Ohio and West Virginia toward the East Coast.
The Daily Grind is a coffee shop and restaurant with wireless Internet capabilities. She opened the store in February 2011.
Yeager she makes from $50 to $100 a week on tips and doesn't have insurance to cover damages from the storm.
"I'm trying to be positive about it," Yeager said. "It's just a lot of hard work."
She is appealing for donations and offering gift certificates for when she does open. Yeager also is distributing the letters asking for the help.
"I flat out don't have anything to open back up," she said.
Jill Parsons, executive director of the Chamber of Commerce of the Mid-Ohio Valley, suggests contacting the local foundations, the regional council or the Small Business Development Center at West Virginia University at Parkersburg for what assistance may be available.
"There are a lot of resources in our community that can get you pointed in the right direction," Parsons said.
Ann Conageski, municipal development director, recommends contacting the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which has loan programs available. The programs are contingent upon a federal disaster declaration, Conageski said.
President Obama declared West Virginia a disaster area on Monday. FEMA is coordinating disaster relief at the Coliseum in Morgantown.
The Small Business Administration is another resource, administration spokesman Cecelia Taylor said. Much depends on whether a federal disaster declaration has been made and information about programs is available at 800-659-2955, she said.
