Flood wipes out small business: ‘Oh my God, it’s so tough’

Less than a week after the Toccoa River surged to a record crest, the massive recovery effort continued Tuesday.

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Katina Yeoman was outside her Copper Mine Candle Company, half the business in Georgia and half in Tennessee.

It was spared just three months ago in another major flood “by six inches,” she said. But not in last week’s “1,000-year rainfall.”

“It’s a wipe out. It’s a wipe out. When we opened the door, four feet of water just came gushing out the building,” Yeoman said.

What’s left of the business she’s grown from a tiny store front around the corner is now piled on the sidewalk outside.

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“I hoped to leave it to my daughters, to leave it to my grandchildren,” Yeoman said.

“Oh my God, it’s so tough. I said many times, I spend all day pushing a wheelbarrow out and then I go home and cry half the night,” she said.

She’s grateful to all the volunteers who have made quick work of all the debris from the flood last week. Already, so much of it has been removed.

“I’ve had so many volunteers walk into this door with a pair of yellow gloves and said, ‘What can I do? Let me tell you something, they’re angels,” Yeoman said.

And she says any help goes a long way to helping this heartbroken but determined community.

“Just the smallest little things mean the world,” Yeoman said.

The Toccoa River here is back to its normal, easy flow through McCaysville, but help will still be needed here for weeks to come.

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