Local Businesses Flooded

Some Gulfport business owners had to walk through two feet of standing water to salvage what they could from their flooded stores on Dedeaux Road after the overnight downpour. News 25’s Kristen Durand was on the scene as these store owners evaluated their stores and the aftermath.
Business started off slow, but the flood waters outside were on the rise outside of a Dedeaux Road barbershop as owner Corey Hendrix got to work. He’s not complaining, considering what he had to go through to get here. “I was coming from the other end of Dedeaux and the police officers are telling me ‘no, you can’t go this way’ and I was like ‘well you know, my shops out here’ and they said ‘well it’s probably under water’ so I freaked out.”
Fortunately, Corey’s barbershop sits on high ground on the north side of Dedeaux Road. “I knew it was the grace of God that my business was unharmed because this is my livelihood, you know,” said Corey
While Corey considers himself lucky and was able to open for business, unfortunately it was a different picture across the street. Melissa Fischer, of Melissa’s Bakery, and her family have been out all morning trying to shovel as much of the nearly two feet of water out of their business and salvage what they can. “Just devestation, it was awful. Stuff floating, all my stuff floating, electronics underwater,” said Melissa.
Melissa’s passion for pastries opened the door for a new store on the south side of Dedeaux Road. One year later, her dreams and Gulfport business washed up, overnight, with no flood insurance to fall back on.“Oh my God, what are we going to do? Because we can’t, it’s going to close us down for a while,” said Melissa.
As family and friends help salvage what they could from the bakery’s flood waters, it wasn’t her loss but her customers that Melissa was thinking about. Fortunately for them, she has a backup plan. “Anybody who has orders on order with us, we bake from a different location, so those orders will just be perfectly fine.”
While Corey Hendrix is counting his blessings on the north side of Dedeaux Road, Melissa Fischer is praying for one on the south side to keep her dreams and bakery afloat.
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