By Esteban Fernandez, Times West Virginian
FAIRMONT, W.Va. — Two days before Thanksgiving, disaster struck the Soup Opera.
A little before 7 p.m. on Monday, Misty Tennant, the director of the Soup Opera, received a video showing water spraying out of the building up the side in the back. When she returned to the Soup Opera, she walked into a crisis.
“When we got in there it was pouring out the ceilings, on the floor, the pantry, the water was everywhere,” she said. “On everything in my office, my computers, everything.”
Ceiling tiles had crashed down onto the food storage, potentially rendering the food unusable. Water had also gotten into part of the electrical system. To stop the flooding, the water had to be shut off to the whole building from one of the mains. The timing could not be worse, since on top of jeopardizing the daily meals that Soup Opera provides, it also takes place before one of the biggest feast holidays on the calendar.
Thanksgiving.
“I’m just mentally drained,” she said. “I think once we get our ducks in a row and we get something going, I’ll feel a lot better about it. I’m just sad because we serve so many people in the community that depend on us that like, we’re just, it’s just lost.”