BELL COUNTY, Texas (KXXV) — Temple's storm left some members of the community devastated on Monday as they are working to clean up the aftermath.
- A Gofundme will be created for workers of Dave's Guns and More
- Bell County Flea Market will reopen Next Saturday
- Hotels and buildings currently clearing damage
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
The work to clean up is now underway. America's Best Inn and America Inn both have storm damage, with pieces of the roof and building torn apart.
25 News' was told that there were people inside when the storm rolled through, but the owners said everyone is safe. America's Best Inn is fully open and operating as usual, while America Inn is without power and will take a few more days to recover.
Mickey Purtlebaugh of A&A Trading owns a Bell County Flea Market business.
Purtlebaugh showed 25 News' the damage to roofs and buildings and said he expects to have everything cleaned up and back to normal so that he can reopen next weekend.
"There's no damage on my building, nothing more than a few branches down," Mickey said.
Daves Guns and More has been around for 14 years.
The roof is gone, but as you can see in the video, most of the building is still standing, even with the damage. Pastor David showed Ephiphany La'Sha around the building.
"He is holding a glass globe," Pastor David Lambert said. "The metal railing from the garage door is about an inch away. A massive tornado went through, and that ceramic toy soldier is perfectly standing here untouched. Do you see him."
Lambert pointed out one crucial name that still stands despite the rains.
"The tack in place did not get touched," Pastor Lambert said. "The name above all names Jesus, my king."
Six employees work at Dave's. Pastor Lambert is asking for the community's help as they work to set up a GoFundMe until they can rebuild and get those employees back to work. The rebuilding process will take about 6 months.
You can check the webpage for the GoFundMe link.
