Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, July 1, 1995 TAG: 9507030017
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: A6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: F.J. GALLAGHER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
"I wish we had about 500 people working for us right now," said Stephanie Foote, who manages Servpro of Southwestern Virginia's Roanoke office. "We're pulling equipment out of our Lynchburg operation right now to handle all of our Roanoke customers."
Foote said she had dispatched all available employees and equipment to jobs around the valley, including sites in Salem, Roanoke and Vinton, to tackle the Herculean task of hosing down walls and mopping up floors covered by mud, silt and thousands of gallons of water.
Not 20 feet away from swollen Mason Creek, Servpro employees in knee-high rubber boots spent Thursday and Friday suctioning water from the floor of the Fulfillment Services Inc. warehouse on Kessler Mill Road in Salem, working 16 to 20 hours per day.
"The tank in that truck holds 500 gallons, and we filled it in less than an hour. We'll probably fill it a lot more times, too," Servpro employee Dersie Hay said, pointing to floors awash in mud-brown water.
Other residents and businesses elected to delay cleanup and repair because of the possibility of more rain and more flooding.
"Next week will be the big week for us," said Mike Levan, president of Virginia Building Services, adding that his company specializes in water-damage repair rather than cleanup.
"Things dry up and lumber twists, floors heave, and you find things growing inside your walls that weren't there before."
Levan was happy to quote a price to those not covered by insurance..
"Once they hear the price, they start thinking that maybe they can do it themselves," Levan said.
Levan recommended rinsing affected items and rooms with clean water and then using an anti-microbial spray to combat offensive odors.
"Then you kind of sit back and wait for things to dry."
by CNB