[Side note: I wasn't affected by the flooding, neither my home nor my own store. However, I almost had a problem that day. I went to Pikeville to shop and have my store, Booknotes, open for part of the day, thinking that there would be 2-3 inches of rain, with the worse falling to the north and west with clearing by the early afternoon. I closed soon after my only browser of the day (from the Wheelwright area no less) and the first warnings were issued. Rain was already running down the hills, ditches were overflowing, and creeks were rising, although some weren't getting as high as expected. Rain water was already running down the street by the time I got home. Barely twenty minutes later, a landslide up the road caused muddy water to wash down the street in front of my place and into the ditch/small creek next to the parking lot. It never flowed over its banks. Turns out, the system slowed down some, dumping over four inches of rain far south of where it was forecast. The system didn't start pushing north into the mid-to-late afternoon. I might not have been able to have gotten home in time if I hadn't left as early as I did. Strangely enough, the forecast for Sunday was very accurate, with the rain and snow coming in at about the same time as predicted.]
I haven't been able to drive past Page 3 since then, taking a slight detour when necessary. That stretch of road wasn't in too good a shape anyway those first few days. It took awhile before they posted anything about how they were doing. The main floor looked to be in fairly good shape, as only a few inches of water or so came in. The lower area was hit harder, probably taking in a few feet or so. That area was where they stored most of the older comic books, as where the current titles were put on display. While they have spread out to many more things than just comics, this will still hit them hard, along with all the other things they lost. As of yet, I haven't reached out to them. On the one hand, I want to help them, but I don't know how. Most of the ideas I've had come off as too self-serving, anything to help me get my comics back again as quickly as possible. My mother even suggested I should try to start selling comics at my store. Not only would that be very rude to Page 3, whose owner has bought from me before, but it also wouldn't be that feasible, as Page 3 could be open again by the time I could start receiving given the three month lead time and the fragmented market currently in place. Yes, I would be the only one in the area selling, as the only other place started by a former Page 3 manager got hit just as bad, but it would be unfair considering all they have done for me over the decades. On the other hand, I don't want to help. I'm not good in very dirty, messy situations. I am not good at cleaning. I'm better at organizing. Seeing so much loss and destruction could be a trigger for my own losses to floods, twice, of almost everything I had. Besides, I still have my own store to run. Sure, I might not have that much business at any one time, and I have someone to watch it when I'm not there, but active cleaning is just not something I like to do. I want and need to do something more than just offer condolences, but nothing feels right. I really need to say something, and soon, but I don't know what that should be.
