BELLINGHAM, Wash. — The brick back wall to a Bellingham business was obliterated Sunday night when high winds blasted through town.
"Right now we're just trying to grab everything we can and get it out of here," said Shari Wright, owner of Fourth Corner Frames and Gallery.
The business has stood in its West Holly Street location for 49 years. Shari has owned it for 21 of those years. She has seen a lot in her location, but nothing like this.
"A major windstorm came through Sunday night," Shari said. "On Monday morning we came in, the lights were on and no one was home."
The back wall of the 139-year-old building sat in crumbled pieces of brick and concrete at the bottom of a bluff. The bathroom was completely exposed.
"Basically, what went through my mind was, OK, let's get to work," said Shari.
Friends, co-workers and even customers have been helping move all of the artwork and inventory to a new location.
Shari was quick to acknowledge a crew from Ram Construction that was working directly across the street. They dropped everything and spent the entire day helping her clean up.
"They even brought us lunch," said Sharie. "I am so grateful."
Though heavy winds did blow through Sunday night, it's the building's foundation that may be the real problem.
"There have been storm water runoff issues here with the bluff holding up the back of the building," Shari said. "It has rapidly in the last couple of years been eroding and doing some things like that."
Incredibly, there was very little damage done to any of Shari's products or her customers' artwork.
Now, she and her loyal friends are cleaning up the mess and moving on, grateful they have each other.
"I basically am making lemonade out of the lemons life gave me," said Shari.
The business will be closed for the foreseeable future, but Shari said she will find a space to reopen and serve her customers as soon as possible.
"They've always been so good to me, so I want to be good to them."