BLUEFIELD, VA (WVNS) – Heavy rain caused flash flooding in parts of the Tazewell County area early Wednesday morning, July 27, 2022.
Floodwaters entered one of the intersections in Downtown Bluefield, as seen in videos circulating on social media.
Grind, a local coffee shop in Southwest Virginia had to close for the day to be careful of both their employees and their customers.
“We went ahead and did what was best and that was closure for now. Usually, when it’s raining outside, it’s already hard enough to get people in here, but with the flooding and everything, we just took the safety precaution of closing down,” Right said.
Right said he understands the negative implications of temporarily closing a business.
“With the way everything is set up right now with the economy and everything, it hurts us a little bit to be shut down like that because we’re heavy on some days and stuff, and when the weather is different, you have to take a step back and everything. , it hurts us a lot,” Right said.
Grind isn’t the only local business affected.
Michael Dye, owner of New Graham Pharmacy said he is prepared to act if flood waters rise, especially in his business.
“Well, we have sandbags in our warehouse and sand ready to fill the sandbags. We have boards to help support those sandbags and keep the water out,” Dye said.
Dye said that in all his years of owning a business in Bluefield, they only closed once.
