I wanted my coffee shop to become a haven for Hurricane Helene survivors. The storm totally destroyed it.
- Hurricane Helene destroyed Maples, a coffee shop in Burnsville, North Carolina.
- Opened in 2015, Maples served as a community hub, hosting music and art events.
This as-told-to essay is based on an interview with Susan Scoggins, 61, the owner of Maples, a coffee shop in Burnsville, North Carolina, that was destroyed by Hurricane Helene.
The following has been edited for length and clarity.
We opened Maples in 2015 because there was no food or drink in the area. At the time, I was taking a business class, and we were talking about filling a niche.
Maples did that, but it also did so much more, it filled the need of a community. It quickly became a community hub.
We didn't just have food and coffee — we had music jams every Saturday morning, and knitters and crochet groups came in weekly.
It's where people would hold their meetings.
We were looking forward to celebrating our 10th anniversary.
When we knew bad weather was on the way, we started to prepare.
We had lived on the coast for 30 years, so we knew how to take precautions in case of a hurricane.
When we heard it was coming to North Carolina, we started making sure that we'd have enough food and water and began putting our important things in the shop.
Maples was on a cement slab; it had steel girders, and we really thought it was a safer place than anywhere else.
The rain started coming, and we had all of the necessities in the building, and there was still power.
I stayed there until about 10 p.m., and I was planning on staying there overnight because I couldn't get up to my home, which is higher up on a mountain.
I wanted to be available to make coffee in the morning in case things got bad for our neighbors.
My hope was that Maples would be a little safe haven for people to come to after the hurricane passed. But now, the building is just gone.
There's nothing left.
I'm grateful that my granddaughter talked me into staying with her that night because, if she hadn't, I also wouldn't be here.
All of the customers know my two-year-old great-granddaughter, who has been the little greeter for the coffee shop since she was born. She had all of her toys there.
When we first saw the building, things were scattered all over the parking lot, including her toys. We also had a 30-foot water tower. That was just washed into the intersection.
There are a lot of people without food, water, power, medicine, and all of the necessities, yet they continue to be kind, and everyone is helping everyone.
I don't know where we'll go from here. Right now, I have no concept of time, I don't even know what day it is.
I also have no concept of what it would take to rebuild Maples. I just don't know.
I know that my store was insured, but I have to get around disaster relief and other things.
But at the moment, it's most important to me that we help the community rebuild after Hurricane Helene.