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Minnesota couple's marina destroyed by Hurricane Helene in North Carolina

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Published  October 19, 2024 10:39pm CDT
Hurricanes
FOX 9

MN couple's business destroyed by Hurricane Helene

A Minnesota couple is picking up the piece after their business was destroyed by Hurricane Helene in North Carolina.

The Brief

    • A Minnesota couple's marina in North Carolina was destroyed by Hurricane Helene, just seven months after they relocated and left their jobs to run the business.
    • The hurricane severely damaged the docks, swept away customer boats, and left the couple facing significant rebuilding efforts, with insurance covering only part of the damage.
    • While FEMA is assisting, the couple is hesitant to take out loans due to existing debt, but they are receiving support from their former community in Minnesota to rebuild.

HICKORY, N.C. (FOX 9) - A Minnesota couple is picking up the pieces after their marina was destroyed by Hurricane Helene. The couple had just relocated to the state seven months ago, and had left their jobs and sold their home to own a Pub and Marina in Hickory, North Carolina.

"We had a large piece of debris actually struck our first dock," said Dan Kelly, owner of Lake Hickory Pub and Marina.

Kelly recalls the night his docks on his marina were destroyed by Hurricane Helene. 

"After it struck the first dock, the first dock and the second dock basically ripped offshore and off the riverbed and started to float away," said Kelly.

Then, later that night, Kelly was at home at the marina with his wife and their kids when more devastation struck. 

"We were having dinner, and we heard a loud crunching noise, and we looked out, and the other three docks were breaking along shore," said Kelly.

Now the business owners have to figure out how to get their docks back up and running, but that’s not all.

"We lost several of our slip customers' boats, and they all basically detached and started flowing down the river," said Kelly.

The couple does have insurance, but it doesn’t cover everything, but Kelly says FEMA is helping them out. They are hesitant to take out small business loans, because of the interest that could occur, and they have already taken on debt to purchase the business. And now they have to rebuild the docks from scratch.

"It's in the process of rebuilding the docks, getting those docks set in place, going back, and making sure we can hopefully recapture the slip customers that we had before," said Kelly.

The Spring Lake Association in Minnesota is helping the Kellys rebuild their dream Pub and Marina with a GoFundMe.