A coffee shop is gone without a trace after Helene barreled through the town of Chimney Rock. All that remains are the rocks.
The shop was named Coffee on the Rocks, owned by Bruce Godzik and his wife for 15 years. Their home next door is gone too.
“Watched the whole house collapse, and the business went in right after,” Godzik told WSB-TV in Atlanta .
Godzik had walked to the fire department up the hill as the Broad River exploded through the valley, and then he went to get his wife. Twenty minutes later, the house, the coffee shop, the T-shirt shop, and the brewery were all gone.
HELENE HITS CHIMNEY ROCK:
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- Lake Lure Dam no longer at imminent risk of failure, officials say
“It was just horrific. We saw all our friends’ businesses slowly peel away and go down the river,” Godzik said to WSB′s Bryan Mims . “We were hoping the river would stop, but it was relentless.”
His cat Josie, adored by customers, was also gone.