Flash flooding in Monroe County caused extensive damage Friday to May’s Greenhouse on Bloomington’s south side. Owners woke up to find four feet of water in multiple greenhouses.
Heavy rain on Thursday overwhelmed the creek that flows behind the popular business, causing thousands of dollars in structural damage to the grounds. The severe weather damaged a wide array of plants and machinery.
Co-owner Jason Michell Fulton says this is the first time severe weather has caused extensive damage to the business since it opened in 1965.
“It’s just all a jumbled mess and right now I’m just trying to fix the structures so that they can hold heat. Tomorrow I’m going to start putting things right up so that they don’t mold. That’s another concern,” Fulton says.
At one point during the storm, water levels rose so high that they lifted two of the business’s semi-trailers off the ground, moved them about 50 yards and flipped the semis onto their sides.
Fulton says they’re trying to fix the facility in time for the spring planting season.
“At the moment, I just really don’t know how long it could be. The springtime rush usually starts around mid-April and that’s coming up pretty quick,” he says.
The severe weather also caused damage to several other properties in the county. Monroe County Emergency Management is urging residents to report flood damage so the state can provide that information to the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
FEMA could make funding available to residents who experienced storm-related property damage.
