COLLEGE STATION, TX — As fast winds and heavy rain ripped through the Bravos Valley one popular diner, Hullabaloo's, took a direct hit. The diner's roof was ripped completely off slamming into the diners bar.
"We raced up here, and as we were pulling up, I was like 'Oh my god’,” says Owner Richard Risbon.
About two thirds of the roof covering the 82-year-old diner is gone.
“It twisted around all the electrical wires here and landed on top of our bar area. So took out the power,” explains Risbon.
With power lines down and most of the roof damaged, Risbon says the damage looks a lot worse than it really is.
“The poles in the back are the ones that work the our refrigeration and our walk-in's so those are still working. So, thats a saving grace of this all,” he said.
Just 0.2 miles down the road, Texas Burger saw absolutely no damage.
“We were lucky enough to not have any damage and just come in for a normal day of work today,” says manager Kayla Wesley. "But we are still praying for them and hoping they get through it quick and recover fast."
With help from loyal customers, Hullabaloo is optimistic that they will be up in running in no time.
“One of our good customers is a contractor and he is going to try and get a crew out here today to remove some of this because that's what’s holding us up," explains Ribson. "If we get all this twisted metal around all the wiring removed then the city will come back out and re-hook the power up.”
Hullabaloo’s diner is still planning on opening at 25 percent capacity starting Friday, May 1st, as long as they get power up and running.