FRANKFORT, Ky. (WKYT) – Chris Mays is the owner of A’Maysing Ink tattoos and A’Maysing custom designs.
“It just started out as just streams of revenue, and it just turned into a dream that went away in six hours,” Mays says.
He says about four feet of water came into the building during the flood.
“As the water was rising, I was able to walk through and just kinda grab the stuff that I could,” Mays says. “I think I was here for 30 minutes, and it went up six, seven inches on my leg. I was like, it’s time to go.”
The hard work began when Mays was able to get back into his business on Wednesday.
Since then, he and a group of volunteers have filled up two large dumpsters with furniture and other materials during the clean-up process.
Mays says he’s lost four machines worth around $20,000.
“I have to start over. I don’t have…one chair that is okay. Every one of them is ruined,” he says.
But on the positive side, “People I don’t even know have show[n] up to help me, so that’s a big blessing.”
One of those volunteers is Blake Tucker. He tells us he went to school with Mays’ son.
“We’ve got to pull the floors out, we have to get all the drywall out,” Tucker says.
By trade, Tucker works for Empire Restoration.
But as a Frankfort native, he’s giving back to the community for free.
“Some of these people raised me as a kid, and so it’s great to be able to come back and help them and say, you know, you instilled these values into me and now I’m going to give it back to you,” Tucker says.
What’s next for Mays is this: “I don’t know [anything] else but to just keep going. ‘Cause if I stop, ain’t nothing getting done.”
Crews will continue to clean out the building to prepare for restoration.
Tucker tells us it will take a couple weeks.
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