Viral storm video at Milford Farmers' Market prompts community support for impacted businesses

Last week's storm wreaked havoc for small business owners at the Milford Farmers' Market, with many vendors losing most of their inventory.

"Terrifying. Unlike anything I've ever experienced in my life. It came in so fast, and I'm talking like under a minute," Courtney Cole.

Cole is the owner of Courtney Bakes, one of many small business owners who set up shop that day. The wicked weather left a wake of destruction.

"It was soul-shattering. Complete devastation for everyone. I mean, you watched everything that all of us had built literally floating down water that was almost up to my knees." Cole said. "About 90 percent of the products that I had was just floating in bins of water. I lost my tent when it blew away. It hit a tree. It crumbled.  Everything that I've acquired over the last three years for markets was pretty much ruined."

An employee at TMV Group, a local advertising agency, captured the chaos from above and posted the video on social media.

The video went viral and is nearing close to a million views.

The team decided to turn that attention into action to help impacted business owners get back on their feet.

"Wouldn't it be a great idea if we tried to do something and harness the power of social media and make it more of a positive story instead of just a viral video of people's livelihoods getting thrown around," said TMV Group Managing Partner Joe Morden.

On Tuesday, Morden and his staff decided to launch an online fundraiser to support affected small business owners.

"Our thought was to help raise money, help them replenish the inventory they may have got lost, all the stuff that got damaged, and just use a little bit of our skill set to help make a bad situation better," Morden stated.

Morden tells CBS News Detroit that the goal is to raise between $16,000 and $20,000, to be divided equally among the vendors.

For Cole, she says the support means everything.

"The fact that there are other people out there that are trying to help all of us as a whole, it kind of restored my faith in humanity a little bit. It doesn't surprise me the size of these people's hearts," said Cole.

If you would like to support these small business owners, they'll be back at it on Thursday at the Milford Farmers' Market from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Liberty Street.