Monday evening’s tornado devastated several businesses and also did severe damage to one of Marion County’s prized public assets, the Columbia-Marion County Library.
Branch Director Mona Swayze said when the tornado came through two employees hid in the computer room, which had no windows, and everyone else, including patrons, were either in the ladies room or under the stairs.
She said the winds kept blowing the doors open, so with help she was able to lock the doors while the tornado blew through. Afterwards everyone was walking and one of the employees said there was a banner from downtown across the road. Swayze took one look and knew differently: It was pieces of their roof.
At glance that was all the damage, the roof. The library is under the board of supervisors and is in District 4, whose supervisor is Raymon “Tater” Rowell. Rowell and Eugene Ryals, county maintenance, came in Monday evening assessing the damage.
By the time Swayze left that night the only damage was to the roof. When she walked in Tuesday morning, it was a totally different story.
Late Monday night and early Tuesday morning large amounts of rain came through the area, and ceiling tiles had come down, leaving insulation hanging from the empty spots, and there was 3 to 4 inches of water standing.
“I knew it would be a mess when I came in Tuesday but had no idea it would be so widespread,” Swayze said.
Not only had the rain had come in from the holes in the roof but the water also got behind the walls, causing extension damage everywhere.
“There was not a spot in the library that did not get wet. In fact we are still finding water,” she said.
The cleaning company Serv Pro was there Tuesday morning to start getting all of the water out of the building. While they are doing that a temporary roof is being installed.
Swayze said they have not checked the computers yet to see what has been damaged yet. They are trying to stay out of the way of the clean-up crew.
She said the library will definitely be closed until after the first of the year. But for her and the staff there is still plenty of work to do. Inside the library now tables are covered with important papers, which are drying out. Board minutes, Swayze said, have to be kept indefinitely so any open spot has papers drying out.
Another job they have to do is go through each and every book and remove the books that got wet. “Mold grows so fast on books, so if they are wet we have to remove them,” she said.
As they sort through the books, ones that are wet will be written out of the inventory and if possible new ones will be ordered. If not, a book in the same genre will be ordered to replace it.
The library was heated by natural gas, which because of all of the damage had to be shut off. The workers are having to work with no heat at the moment and with the doors open for the clean-up company.
As for all of the equipment, shelving, furniture and everything, she said they are waiting on the adjuster to make a determination.
“We are at the mercy of the board of supervisors and insurance adjusters,” Swayze said.
Asked what could people do to help out, she said the best thing right now is keep them in prayers. Maybe after the first of the year there may be in place for volunteers to help in the building but not until then. She is keeping a list of people offering to help and the library phones are still working.
