CANTON, N.C. — When vintage store Rewind Video flooded during Tropical Storm Fred, owner Troy Burnett barely had time to make it out alive.
What You Need to Know
Tropical Storm Fred devastated several local businesses in downtown Canton
Rewind Video hadn't even opened, and owner Troy Burnett had been curating the store's content nearly his entire life
AC American Cleaners owner Tom Wilson estimates his business sustained more than $500,000 in damage
“I almost got trapped in here. There was really no way to get out besides the three doors you come in,” Burnett said. “The weight of the water kept it from kind of opening up. It was a crazy experience.”
It took two days to pump water out of a store that took just minutes to flood.
“You had to just sit there and watch it wash away,” Burnett said.
Decades of work collecting vintage titles – CDs, VHS tapes, laser discs, cassettes – all washed away in a sea of mud and water.
“I don’t have any insurance, I wasn’t opened," Burnett said. “I was still kind of in the process of opening.”
AC American Cleaners, the building next to him, didn’t fare much better.
“This is my office,” owner Tom Wilson said while walking us through the building. “Total destruction.”
Tom Wilson has been the owner of the cleaners since it opened 33 years ago. This is the third time he’s been flooded out while owning the place.
“There’s no really way to explain it. Your body just goes completely numb when you walk in and see total destruction,” Wilson said. “I’ve got probably half a million dollars’ worth of loss or more.”
Tropical Storm Fred destroyed nearly each one of his machines. He has flood insurance, but he only expects it to cover about 20% of the more than $500,000 in damage.
“I’m a fighter and, hopefully, I can find enough funds,” Wilson said. “It’s iffy.”
As for Burnett, he doesn’t know what’s next after curating very specific content for years.
“I have no idea, I really don’t,” he said.
A total restart for a company that never had a chance to open its doors.
Both businesses have a GoFundMe set up. You can donate to Burnett's here and Wilson's here.