News, Weather and Sports for Sioux City, IA: KCAU-TV.comSilver Lining: Hail Damage Brings Money To One "Local" Economy

Silver Lining: Hail Damage Brings Money To One "Local" Economy

Saturday's storms infamously brought devastating destruction to Mapleton, Iowa, but Norfolk, Nebraska was hit hard as well. Folks there are hoping to profit from their intense hail storm.

Buy local. It's been a campaign in Norfolk, Nebraska since November, but, the city-wide movement began in this Auto Center 6 years ago.

Cornhusker Auto Center owner Al Rajaee said, "About a year ago, Dennis with the Chamber Of Commerce approached us and said, 'Hey, we want to do the buy local campaign citywide,' and we have joined that campaign and it's been a really good payoff."

So, Norfolk's "Buy Local" campaign was born and six months later, an intense hail storm descends on the area, ripping through cars and homes. Such destruction brings crews from all over the country, eager to make a pretty penny off other's misfortune.

Norfolk Area Chamber of Commerce President Dennis Houston says, "There are already a number of insurance adjustors and insurance companies in town as well as roofing companies that are coming in from out of town and as we saw the people throughout the community we thought, 'This is a great opportunity for us to really drive home our 'Buy Local' campaign'."

And it looks like folks are doing just that. Body shops in town are booked for several weeks, if not months. Cornhusker Auto Center is working on about 30 hail-damaged cars alone.

"When we buy locally, we all win, which is a true statement about our business, about keeping the money local and being able to spend the dollars here locally and help our tax basis," said Rajaee.

And of course, buying local isn't only for Norfolk. You can help out your area economy by choosing businesses in the surrounding area as well.