Roof Collapses

UPDATE: The mall's landlord is telling everyone that most of the businesses in that mall will be able to open again on Monday morning. Of course, Bed Bath & Beyond won't re-open until they are cleaned up and have a new roof(!)

This has been a real mess. The Tampa Bay Area has had one of the 4 wettest days in recorded history yesterday. Here's a video showing the amazing roof collapse that occurred yesterday morning at a nearby mall. I have close friends who own stores and work in this mall. No one knows when the stores will re-open, and the loss of income to these people is very real and very frightening. Please keep all the employees and owners in your prayers.

What's truly amazing is that only one person was mildly hurt, and no one was killed. When you see this, you'll wonder how everyone escaped. Employees at nearby stores heard a huge explosion, and the impact caused the windows to shatter outward. The glass blew out into the parking lot. Incredibly, no one was hit by the huge shards of glass.

A Human Interest Story Which Hasn't Been Reported: One woman began screaming that her child was missing and must be in the building. A heroic employee from a nearby store ran into Bed Bath & Beyond to rescue the child. After he'd gone in, the child was found in the group of people that had been evacuated. But even though he ended up empty-handed, that hero was still a hero for going in there.

Here's the video about the roof collapse.

Here's a video showing the incredible flooding and other interesting footage.