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Market works to recover a month after tornado

Posted at 12:54 PM, Jun 30, 2019
and last updated 2019-06-30 14:54:09-04

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    Lawrence, KS (KSHB) — It’s been a long clean up process for John Pendleton.

He owns Pendleton’s Country Market in south Lawrence, Kansas, and lives on the property.

A month ago, a tornado severely damaged his home and business.

“The tornado hit the house, damaged it. We had damage on our barn. We had seven greenhouses. Five out of seven were completely destroyed. Two of the greenhouses were fixable,” Pendleton said.

Now, 30 days later, Pendleton still can’t believe the shock of it all.

“The fact that it’s already been a month gone by is, you know, we’ve been living with it every day. It seems like a long time ago, but it seems like it was just last week, also,” Pendleton added.

On Saturday, his flower and plants were out in full bloom, and he urged customers to take them home to clear out their inventory.

One of those customers was Belinda Baker who lives in Lawrence.

“Made a point to come extra times this year just to help support after the tornado,” Baker said.

During the clean up process, Pendleton said it’s the support of the community that has gotten them through this difficult time.

“It’s almost been overwhelming, the number of people who have come out and volunteer physically, the amount of people who have volunteered financial help,” Pendleton said.

After the tornado, Pendleton said they will downsize and will not have as many greenhouses as they once had.

Once they clean up the property, Pendleton said he wants someone to take it over so he and his wife, Karen, can retire.

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