By DAVID CLOUSTON

Salina Journal

In a business where down time means more opportunity for customers to use a competitor's product, the sight of ankle-deep water standing in his cabinet production factory from a hole in the roof and a broken pipe was a jolt to Mike Junk.

"It couldn't hit us at a worse time. We're swamped with work," Junk, president of Crestwood, said Thursday afternoon. Still, he said, contractors and subcontractors who helped build the plant's most recent addition in 2005 were back at the plant and were making "fantastic progress" toward putting it back in operation. And employees also were helping with the cleanup.

A combination of a tornado and straight line winds sucked in overhead doors at the plant, which helped mangle the metal joists supporting the roof of the 260,000-square-foot plant located at 601 E. Water Well.

The wind dragged the metal joists across the roof, stripping away about three-quarters of the roof membrane and ripping a hole about 10,000 feet in diameter clear through the middle of the roof, Junk said.

To top it off, the storm broke a 6-inch-diameter fire sprinkler system pipe that dumped four to five inches of water onto the shop floor.

"We already made big strides today, cleaning the water out," Junk said. "In our business, we can't be down for long, or we'll lose our clientele. Our customers are understanding, but they still need our product."

The silver lining, he said, was that the storm sucked most of the debris to the outside. And the standing water wasn't high enough to reach wood and other materials used in production.

"Fortunately, our racking systems are up off the ground. I don't expect a huge material loss," Junk said.

Damage to the building could reach as much as $3 million, he estimated. He expects insurance will cover most of the loss. The plant should be back in operation in about a week, Junk said.

Wednesday night's storm also destroyed a pole shed at Dauer Implement Co. on South Highway 81, that used to store customers' combines, tractors and hay bailers waiting for service.

"Several pieces of equipment sustained damage. There was broken glass and bent sheet metal. It (the storm) pulled some poles out of the ground and blew the tin around. It made a general mess of things," said Waldo Newquist, a co-owner of the business.

"We had a bit of roof damage on the main building, but the majority was the pole shed," he said.

He and his employees spent Thursday cleaning and waiting for electricity to be restored. It was restored about 2:30 p.m.

Newquist said he had no estimate Thursday on the amount of storm damage at the business.

n Reporter David Clouston can be reached at 822-1403 or by e-mail at dclouston@salina.com.

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