TEMPLE, Texas (KXXV) — On May 22, 2024, a destructive tornado ripped through West Adams Ave. in Temple, destroying close to 500 homes and businesses. Summer Moon Coffee speaks with KXXV on their status one year later.
- Many of us remember the evening of May 22, 2024, after two tornadoes touched down in Bell County, ripping through close to 500 homes and businesses.
- Summer Moon Coffee opened its doors in 2023, and when the tornado hit, it destroyed their storefront.
- It took three months for the business to reopen, with many waiting to get in.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Many of us remember the evening of May 22, 2024, after two tornadoes touched down in Bell County, ripping through close to 500 homes and businesses, including this one: Summer Moon Coffee on West Adams Avenue, where the franchise owner tells me she’s never seen storm damage like this.
Small business owner and Temple native McKenzie Fleming has owned this Summer Moon Coffee location for two years.
When the tornado roared through West Adams Avenue one year ago, she couldn’t believe how much damage this storm had done in such a short amount of time.
“We got a text message from one of our baristas, I don't know, maybe maybe 30 minutes after it happened, and she sent us a video of everything and just the heartbreak to see what we had created just on the floor, you know, the half the ceiling was ripped off all all but maybe two windows were busted out, glasses everywhere, tables are turned over, machines are just thrown on the ground,” McKenzie said.
“We weren't able to actually come up here for about three days, and when we walked in, it was just, I mean, it was devastating. It broke my heart just to see what happened in 15 minutes, you know, and I don't think I understood,” she said.
“It was just awful,” she said.
McKenzie says there were many lessons learned after the tornadoes that ripped through Bell County.McKenziel said she doesn’t take anything for granted and is grateful for the community's support.
“Time is fleeting and nothing is guaranteed and um you know what God can give you he can take away very quickly and I think we're just so grateful and thankful for what we do have here and this building that when you walk into it um you may not know the backstory of the tornado and you may not understand that or have been here through that um but we see it and we can see just how we've been able to pour our love into these four walls um and so I would say what we've learned is just every day is a blessing and we're just so thankful that,” McKenzie said.
After opening up three months after the storms, McKenzie and her family just hoped that at least one customer would walk through those doors.
To her surprise, a line of customers wrapped around the building before its reopening. She couldn’t be more thankful for her community's help.
