Copperhill store owner says flooding destroyed home and $600,000 in merchandise

Mom-and-pop shops around McCaysville and in Copperhill, on the Tennessee side of the river, are sorting through the wreckage left by Wednesday night's storms. The cleanup has not been easy, and some owners lost their homes as well as their businesses.

Jenni Martin, owner of Oak and Oar Interiors in Copperhill, told CBS News Atlanta she watched her life's work wash away on a security camera.

"It happened like in an hour. I can see on the time lapse on our cameras in the store," Martin said. "We pretty much lost everything."

Martin had left town just days earlier after stocking her store for Christmas. She estimates she lost more than $600,000 in merchandise in the flooding. She said she had just celebrated the store's first anniversary after opening in October 2025.

"We worked really hard to get it that way," she said.

Making matters worse, Martin said she did not have flood insurance. The floodwaters also took her home.

"Why would we get flood insurance?" Martin said. "It hasn't flooded here since 1990."

She said an insurance agent had told her she would be fine without it.

Now, she's relying on her general manager and friend for a place to stay and on the community to help her rebuild.

"Everybody is stepping up. We have people here I've never met my entire life, that have shown up. So the small town community here is amazing," Martin said.

Martin told CBS News Atlanta she is running an online fundraiser through her store's page to help other businesses as well as her own.