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Surviving The Flood With Main Street Comics In Madison, North Carolina

Surviving the flood with Main Street Comics in Madison, North Carolina

Published Sat, 14 Dec 2024 08:59:59 -0600

Last updated Sat, 14 Dec 2024 09:07:27 -0600

Article Summary

Local comic shop hit by Hurricane Helene, floodwaters rose over 22 feet.
Main Street Comics lost 98% of inventory, only 2% salvaged.
Owners Kyle and Avia raise $27,000 via GoFundMe to rebuild.
Plans to reopen in Marshall, despite setback and insurance issues.

At the beginning of October, Bleeding Cool reported that Main Street Comics and Games in downtown Marshall, Madison, North Carolina, which opened in 2021, was hit by the flooding of the French Broad River after Hurricane Helene. They saw the flood water, which crested at over 22 feet, destroy all the contents of the shop, leaving behind "a wake of mud, toxic muck from factories up the river, loss of livelihood, and a dream shattered." Owners Kyle Clark and Avia were looking to reopen the only comic book shop in Madison County. To that extent, they have launched a GoFundMe, which has raised over $27,000. including $3000 from one local Dr Warren Strittmatter.

One Comic Store Opens, One Closes, One Destroyed by Hurricane Helene — Main Street Comics and Games via GoFundMe

Kyle Clark told ABC13 News, "the waterline was about seven feet in the building, cresting all the shelving. Right where we had, like, some of the artwork on the wall, I mean, one was standing. One piece of artwork was standing, and it was the Main Street sign. We got 2% of our inventory. Everything else was trashed. The original art, that's a kick in the stomach. So this is the shop now. All against that far wall, (there were) thousands of comic books. We had been working and collecting those for the shop for 10 years. Seeing all that time, energy and purpose just flood out…it's heartbreaking. We had private insurance for our inventory, and they won't cover it because they said that we don't have flood insurance for the inventory. And I was just like, OK".

But he is planning to reopen, somewhere, somewhen, somehow. "People talk to us about, you know, are you going to reopen, would you reopen in Marshall? This is the only place that we would reopen. We'll get there. It's just gonna take a lot of time, a lot of energy, it's a marathon. Yeah, we wouldn't want to be anywhere else".

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