Area businesses experience $7 million loss in thunderstorm
10:45 p.m. Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Manhattan — “Never, and I’ve seen hailstorms, but I’ve never seen anything quite so… it’s like a battle zone out here: these cars, the way they look,” says Charley Trapp, sales manager of Dick Edwards Ford West in Manhattan
Trapp describes the devastating thunderstorm that swept through Manhattan Monday, leaving streets flooded and cars destroyed.
In a matter of minutes, this dark storm footage, which you’ll only see on 49 News, wiped out entire lots of cars. It left many businesses in the red.
Manhattan dealerships loss hundreds of cars due to Monday morning’s thunderstorm, totaling to about $7 million in damages. We talked to dealers today to see what they plan to do with the situation. They say it’s not just a financial mess, but also a physical one.
Trapp says the company loss every single car in its west side lot. In his 15 years in the business, he’s never seen anything like it.
“Of course it’s frustrating. In this business, you know, each month we start anew,” Trapp says. "Here we start the first of the month, basically, with uh, a lot full of extremely damaged cars.”
And now Trapp’s team of sales reps are vacuuming up cars and salvaging what’s left of their stock, which isn’t much.
The company has received a number of calls from customers interested in purchasing the cars, even those that are totaled.
Other stores like Briggs Auto in Manhattan are selling damaged vehicles.
Though Trapp is not sure whether the company will sell the damaged vehicles, he says his top priority is helping customers and getting his sales reps back to the lot instead of behind the vacuums.
“You’ve got to stay positive to keep a smile on our face and things will get right back to normal… I expect we’ll be up and rolling by the end of the week,” Trapp says.
We spoke to the City of Manhattan about loss to public property. They report no damages.
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