Inside Zuma Coffee, it’s almost as if Tropical Storm Helene never ravaged downtown Marshall.
On April 17, seven months after the storm, a rotating cast of bluegrass musicians stepped up to the mic, as residents young and old cut a rug and the espresso machine hummed in the background. With the walls repainted the same golden mustard yellow and red trim that’s welcomed patrons for decades, owner Joel Friedman’s cafe was back to being the place where Marshall gathered.
That’s a massive achievement, Friedman reflects, given that the cafe was inundated with more than 8 feet of water, blowing out its windows and carrying nearly all of its contents down Main Street during the Sept. 27 storm…