Charleston, South Carolina, has seen record rainfall and flooding. When Tiger Lily staff arrived on site for weddings that weren’t canceled in the aftermath of the initial storm, “we were heroes,” said Manny Gonzales.
The worst of South Carolina’s historic flooding may be over, but the cleanup won’t be easy — or fast. So far, 19 people have died in the floods and more than 300 bridges and roads are still closed around the state.
Tim Lawing, AIFD, of Tim’s Touch Flowers & Gifts in Lexington — located less than 15 miles from Columbia — said he’s seeing those infrastructure problems firsthand.
“We are still experiencing closed roads and bridges,” he said. “Many washed out underneath the road and then the pavement collapsed.” As of October 12, “many of the schools are still closed due to road conditions and they are using school facilities for shelters as well.”
While some areas around Columbia saw boil water advisories lifted over the weekend, other residents remain under the advisory, and at least 20 of the state’s dams collapsed in the catastrophic flooding.
“One of the local caterers has been feeding the people on two streets in an area near me,” Lawing said. “I have been several times to help serve dinner to about 175 people. Until you see the entire street lined with debris pile 7 to 9 feet high in front of each house, you don’t understand the devastation.”
Jimmy Richardson of Tommy’s Wholesale Florist in Florence said he’s hearing about challenges from his customers. “We have one client in Andrews, South Carolina, that lives four miles from his flower shop,” he said. “It takes him close to four hours one way to get to work because of the roads closed.”
Not surprisingly, Richardson, who said he didn’t know of any florist with significant structural damage to his or her business, said the flooding has hurt floral sales in the state; his own recent open house and design show saw a very low turnout, only about 30 people.
Tiger Lily’s delivery drivers had to be strategic navigating the city and surrounding areas. Fortunately, the shop was not damaged in the storm. “We’re on high ground by Charleston standards,” Gonzales explained.
“Hopefully, things will return to normal as soon as soon as more roads are opened,” he said.
Len Collins of Georgia State Floral Distributors Inc. in Augusta, Georgia, said he had to cancel his Monday delivery last week to affected areas, owing to closed or washed out roads. By Wednesday, those routes were back to normal. (Augusta is about 75 miles from Columbia; Collins estimates that about 10 percent of his customers are in affected areas.)
Another concern: canceled events.
“During the storm and the weekend after (Oct.3-4), myself and other wedding vendors were jumping through hoops, trying to help brides find new venues for their weddings,” said Lawing, adding that flood damage could hurt venues for months to come. “One had over 8 feet of water that washed through the entire facility.”
Florists in Charleston — a top destination for weddings — were particularly tuned into the potential for lost business.
Still, Collins said most of his customers seemed to have gritted their teeth and pulled off their events, unless the customer canceled first. “It was not easy, but they did what they had to do,” he said. “When it comes to destination weddings, the show must go on come hell or high water. take pride in that, too.”
Manny Gonzales of Tiger Lily Florist said many wedding parties were caught off guard by the bad weather when it first hit. In the days leading up to the storm, few forecasters were predicting how devastating the rain would be and many were focused on then-Tropical Storm Joaquin, which eventually made an eastward turn away from the U.S.
“Most folks thought the rain was not going to be too big a deal and got to town that Thursday and Friday (Oct. 1-2),” said. “Most vendors came through, but several venues refused to hold the wedding, out of liability and employee/guest safety. … Other venues, including brand new hotels that had just opened, stepped up and took the weddings same day.”
Set-ups over that first weekend “weren’t the toughest part,” Gonzales said. “We were the heroes bringing the flowers to the elated brides.”
Instead, pick-ups posed the real challenge. “Midnight, raining, flooding, everyone was stressed out, tired and guests were drunk,” he said. “Navigating the streets at night was challenging because it was difficult to see how deep the water was. Fortunately, our guys made the right calls , and we kept our trucks rolling.”
Other companies Tiger Lily works with weren’t as lucky. “A couple rental company trucks stalled out in water 3-foot deep,” Gonzales said. “A chair rental company woman was stuck in an elevator with 50 chairs when the power went out.”
At Keepsakes Florist, also in Charleston, Karen Spalviero said two out of her four weddings were canceled the weekend of Oct. 3-4. Other deliveries, including funeral work, also were affected by road closures.
“Luckily, my shop did not have flooding and only briefly lost power,” she said.
For his part, Gonzales, who wrote a heartfelt column about the aftermath of the Charleston shooting for Floral Management said he’s ready for the city to be out of national headlines.
“Hopefully, we’ll be a sleepy southern town ,” he said.
Farther north, in Wilmington, North Carolina, Dana Cook, AAF, of Julia’s Florist had to delay some deliveries from Monday, Oct. 5, to Tuesday, Oct. 6, after the initial storm.
“Customers were very understanding as there was quite a bit of standing water in the low-lying areas,” she said. “One of our large gated communities was especially hard hit by the heavy rain.” By Tuesday, her drivers were out in force again without issue.
Of course, retail florists weren’t the only industry members facing logistical challenges. The area surrounding Walterboro, South Carolina, “was hit very hard with lots of flooding,” said Catherine Jakaitis, director of global marketing for Floralife and Oasis Grower Solution, who noted that one employee had to be evacuated from his home, along with is family. (The office itself was not in a flood path.)
“The other problem is that there are many bridges washed out and road closings,” she said. “They do not call us the low-country for nothing. So, there are some issues getting to work.”
At press time, SAF was still reaching out to industry members in affected areas. Want to share your story? Email mwestbrook@safnow.org.
