ASSUMPTION PARISH, La. — An evening of severe weather Monday led to a lot of cleanup after a tornado hit part of Assumption Parish.
“It’s going to be alright ma,” said Chelsie Rodrigue as she stood beside her mom outside their thrift store in Assumption Parish.
Rodrigue and her mom, Joan Burke, spent Tuesday morning wanting to clean up the store in the Supreme community.
“It hurts. That was a lot of work. A lot of people helped,” said Burke as she held back tears, looking at the damaged building.
Instead of cleaning, all they could do is look. Cookie’s Thrift Store was in the path of Monday’s tornado., which the National Weather Service designated as an EF-0.
The roof of their store was ripped off and damage to the building left it unsafe to go inside.
“It’s depressing because we’re the people who help everyone in instances like this,” said Rodrigue. “That’s why this store opened in the first place, and we feel helpless.”
The store, named after Burke’s mom, opened a few years ago with a mission to help people in the community. They used their stimulus checks from the pandemic and life experiences to make it happen.
“My momma lived at the thrift store. She was a single mom of six kids. Everything I needed came from a thrift store,” said Burke.
Looking at the damage, both women are glad the store is closed on Mondays, although Burke is usually there preparing for Tuesday. Thankfully, she wasn’t there Monday.
“I’ve been sick this week, stayed home a couple of days. I was meant to be home. I was meant to be home,” said Burke.
Next to their store Sharon Hebert spent Tuesday picking up personal belongings and dragging them to the street after her storage shed was blown apart.
“That’s the furniture that I had inside of the shed that was demolished by the storm,” said Hebert.
Thanks to the kindness of strangers like Kendrick Williams, cleanup was a little easier.
“I was just passing by and I seen ladies out here trying to pick up stuff so I stopped to try and help,” said Williams.
The sun Tuesday put a spotlight on just how much help is needed.
“As I was coming up to the station I could see both doors imploded,” said Labadieville Volunteer Fire Chief Brian Gros.
The doors and part of the fire station walls were blown out. A mobile home next door was blown over and slammed into the side of the building.
“After 39 years in the department, this is the first time I’ve seen this type of damage to our facilities,” said Gros.
Gros estimates the path of damage to be anywhere from a half mile to a mile long and about a quarter mile wide.
Back at Cookie’s Thrift Store, they’re thinking about the future.
“We’re going to rebuild it because it just does too much for our community for us not to keep it there,” said Rodrigue.
Mom and daughter are now going through insurance hoops to help bring the store back.
Thankfully, there have been no reported injuries because of this storm.
Severe Weather strikes southeast Louisiana, Mississippi coast
► Get breaking news from your neighborhood delivered directly to you by downloading the new FREE WWL-TV News app now in the IOS App Store or Google Play.
