By Teresa Talerico
Tim Harris, a Peninsula grocer who sells gourmet foods from Spain, didn't fret when Hurricane Irene zapped power at La Tienda's warehouse in Toano. A deisel generator kept refrigerators humming and the jamon serrano chilled.
Harris kepy his cool, too - that is, until gas ran out. Meanwhile, the diesel vendor was stuck in Gloucester, which is across the York River and a good 45 minutes from Toano, accessible only by driving south to the Coleman Bridge or north through West Point.
"We ended up in a massive scramble to get fuel," Harris said of the August 2011 storm. It's not uncommon for small business owners to overlook such details when preparing for disasters. Harris and other storm survivors in Hampton Roads recently shared their tips for battering down the hatches.
Click here to read the full story.
By Philip Walzer
They’re an odd threesome.
One line of work specializes in extracting potentially dangerous fungi from homes and offices. Another seeks to beautify those places. A third weaves hair into plaits.
What unites them is Gov. Bob McDonnell’s proposal to free all three occupations – mold remover, interior designer and hair braider – from state regulation.
Click here to read the full story.
The Better Business Bureau of Southeastern Virginia and Northeastern North Carolina announces the appointment of Mr. David Collier, First Atlantic Restoration, Inc., as the new Chairman of the Board of Directors.
Mr. Collier, President of First Atlantic Restoration, Inc., a company that has been an Accredited Business since 1992, has served on the BBB Board of Directors since 2002.
The Southeastern Virginia and Northeastern North Carolina BBB is composed of 1,573 nonprofit, business-supported organizations that set and uphold high standards for fair and honest business behavior. The BBB provides objective advice, free BBB Business Reviews, dispute resolution service, charity wise-giving reports, alerts and educational information on topics affecting marketplace trust. Please visit www.bbb.org for more information.
A faint tendril of smoke curls through the air. The curtain at the opened window sways in the breeze. A trail of hot wax drips onto the bedside table from the flickering flame of a single candle, left burning and forgotten. It is 3:00 a.m. The two sleeping forms lying in the bed stir but go still again, unaware of the impending danger in the room. A new breeze fills the curtain, lifting it toward the candle, and as fabric touches flame, the curtain quickly ignites in a fiery orange glow. The room grows hotter and the sleeping forms become a flurry of terrified motion as they leap to their feet and try to escape the heat. Menacing flames lick out in every direction and the woman reaches for the door handle, but it is too hot and she jerks her hand back in pain. Knowing they have only seconds to escape, the man jerks the door open with a burst of energy, and they stumble together out of the house. Trembling and shocked, they stand on the front lawn watching the house and their possessions being consumed by fire. That real life situation is the definition of stress. However, this brand of tragedy is what we deal with here at First Atlantic Restoration on a regular basis. Our main objective is to restore the lives and homes of those who have suffered these tragedies and of course, to eliminate stress along the way. Click Here for more.
Click here to download the PDF of the article.
