Justin Davis summed the damage caused by Tropical Storm Helene to his Â鶹´«Ã½ restaurant in one word Monday afternoon: “Heartbreaking.â€
Davis is one of the owners of Town Tavern in the River Village shopping center on Sanford Drive in Â鶹´«Ã½. He said flooding from the adjacent Catawba River rose about 5 feet into the restaurant.
The Catawba River overflowed its banks over Green Street near the River Village shopping center as a result of Hurricane Helene.
“It’s devastating. It’s pretty sad to see,†Davis said.
He said the damage to the restaurant is substantial.
“I guess they call it a hundred-year flood,†Davis said. “I hope I never see nothing like it again in my lifetime.â€
He said he hopes to rebuild, but the owners, like everyone else, are taking it day by day. He said the restaurant will have to be gutted and renovated from scratch.
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“Build back bigger, better,†Davis said of starting over.
The restaurant opened in its River Village location in March 2021, Davis said.
Broken furniture, tableware, cups and dishes litter the inside of Town Tavern in Â鶹´«Ã½. The sports bar and restaurant was one of many businesses hit by flash floods brought on by Hurricane Helene.
He said it was a beautiful restaurant that people seemed to enjoy. Other locations of Town Tavern are in Blowing Rock and Banner Elk. Even though those two towns suffered devastating destruction, the Town Taverns in those locations faired much better than the Â鶹´«Ã½ location, Davis said.
“We were real fortunate that all of our locations are good, but all around us is just so much destruction everywhere,†Davis said. “Roads washed out, trees, roads, homes destroyed and flooding. It’s just so much to process. All the office buildings in that strip (in Â鶹´«Ã½) all washed out, all destroyed.â€
He said he is thankful none of the employees were hurt and said things can be replaced.
A trailer full of damaged Salon 337 furniture sits out front of the salon in Â鶹´«Ã½. The hair salon, which had been in business for eight years, was one of many River Village businesses flooded out by Hurricane Helene.
“It is sad for the staff,†Davis said. “We have so many key employees. Great and wonderful employees.â€
He hopes there are some programs they can get in place for the restaurant’s staff to help them out until the restaurant can rebuild.
From left to right: Kathy Kelly, Jimmy Rector and Donnie Coffey, center back, load damaged items from Salon 337 into a trailer.
“It’s just going to take some time,†Davis said. “But we look forward to getting back open and seeing all of our family and friends and people in the community come back in and pick up right where we left off.
