Marion’s J. Hartman’s Restaurant has reopened after Hurricane Helene flooded the restaurant in late September. The owners attribute the rebirth of the restaurant to the local community’s support of the business.
When Hurricane Helene struck McDowell County as a tropical storm on Friday, Sept. 27, the floodwaters from the nearby Catawba River overwhelmed the McDowell Square Shopping Center. The entire parking lot and U.S. Highway 70 West were underwater and stores and restaurants were flooded. Water came up to 2 feet inside J. Hartman’s, Jennifer Hartman said. Next door, the Wendy’s, McDonald’s, Taco Bell and Sonic fast-food eateries were flooded as well.
The restaurant’s equipment and furniture were ruined. Electricity was out for five days. The restaurant’s supply of food was ruined and had to be thrown out, said Jennifer Hartman, who owns the restaurant with her husband, Jon Hartman.
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“We had just gotten three loads of good food that we needed for the weekend. So all that had to be thrown out,” Jennifer Hartman said.
The flood brought mud into the building and damaged the carpet and furniture.
The Hartmans, along with family and friends, set about the enormous task of cleaning out their restaurant and beginning again…