Business owners plan to rebuild alongside the ‘strong little community’ in Newport

NEWPORT, Tenn. (WATE) — As flood water receded in Newport Saturday morning, residents were left with what remained of their downtown area.

Few people ventured out on the muddy terrain down East Broadway Street, but those who did were left in awe.

“It looks like a warzone,” said Resurrection Boxing Club’s Justin Dube, “yeah its tragic but it can be fixed.”

Dube and his business neighbor, Alison Manes, were two of the first people to inspect downtown Newport after it flooded on Friday . They told 6 news their businesses may have suffered the most.

“Well, we’re going to have to rebuild,” said Dube.

Manes said most of her merchandise in Fruit Jar Alley was destroyed by the flood, but luckily the servers in her adjacent business Smith Manes Tax look salvageable.

“It’s devastating to say the least, but no lives were lost and we’re very fortunate,” said Manes.

Just before the flood she said she had placed servers on desks and tried to move items to higher ground, but despite the damage, she says the people Newport will get through this.

“Newport is a strong little community,” she said. “Every business here comes together for anything that’s ever happened to anybody in the community. We are such a tight knit community, so we’ll all pull together.”

However, with the Newport Utility conserving water usage, she says clean up may take a while.

“We’ll pick up the pieces and shovel out the mud,” said Manes. “Wear your boots when you come back to Newport.”

As a lifelong resident, Manes said this is the worst flooding she has seen, but both she and Dube say the community will come together to build the city back.

“The sheriff’s done a great job, C.J. Ball’s done a great job, and, so much support from everybody in the community,” said Dube. “As soon as we get the OK, we’re going to start putting it back together.”

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