‘We will make it’: Two Herons Marina took a big hit in last week’s storm

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Exactly one week ago, a powerful storm swept through central Indiana leaving significant damage in Monroe County. One of the businesses impacted most was Two Herons Marina on Lake Monroe.

“It’s going to be hard, but you know, we will make it,” said Tom Greenmann, the owner of Two Herons Marina.

It started out as a normal summer boating season for Two Herons Marina, but in the afternoon of June 25, something devastating happened.

“A terrible storm came through,” Greenmann said. “This bridge that we are working on pulled and the whole marina moved over there quite a bit further [60 feet] and we have straightened it out. The winds were around, we think, 80 mph.”

A powerful storm swept through this area leaving tens of thousands of people without power and significant damage to homes and businesses throughout Monroe County. That includes more than $1 million dollars worth of damage at Two Herons Marina.

“There is one boat that sank in the marina and there’s probably ten along there that have major damage and there are a couple of pontoon boats that went up on top of each other when the docks went together,” Greenmann said. “[There are] probably only 30 out of 300 damaged.”

Now, what’s usually one of the busiest times of the year for the marina, the week of the Fourth of July, has to be spent cleaning up and repairing damages.

“The hardest part about this is we have 20 rental boats and we had all 20 rented Saturday, Sunday and [this upcoming] Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday,” Greenmann said. “I have canceled all of those people and some of those people had rented as early as January. They have big parties, you know? We are refunding their money but they have people coming in from out of town. It’s just awful for them.”

There is still a long way to go in terms of repairs, but despite it all, Greeman is staying optimistic.

“I actually thought, it’s not as bad as it could’ve been,” he said. “It moved the marina but it didn’t turn anything over and nobody got hurt. The boats can be fixed and things like that.”

Just in the last week, greenmann says there’s been a lot of progress. Even though the marina will not be renting out boats for the next several days, Greemann is hopeful that there will be many more boating days ahead for his business this summer.

“That’s kind of how I look at life, you know? We are here to have fun and this is some experience we are meant to have,” he said.

The marina may not be back open for the Fourth of July, but Greenmann hopes things will start to open back up on Monday, July 8.

Additionally, for Monroe County residents still cleaning up from last week’s storm, there are resources available. Monroe County officials are encouraging anyone who received structural damage after the storm to submit a report through Indiana 211. To make a report, visit in211.org or call 2-1-1 to make a report on the phone.

Two volunteer nonprofit organizations are also helping with debris cleanup. This includes Southern Baptist Disaster Relief and Masters of Disasters. Residents can submit a request for assistance by clicking here. Finally, to learn more about debris cleanup and pickup, click here.

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