Topaz
Electric Rep Davenport and Associates:
Back to Business as usual After Record Tennessee Flood
The weekend of May 1st 2010 was a devastating time for Kermit
Davenport, and his business. Middle Tennessee had a record breaking
13 to 15 inches of rain in just 48 hours. The average rainfall
for the whole month of May is normally 10 inches. It has been
named a 1000 year flood.
This was a once in a lifetime event for Kermit, who runs a
manufacturers rep agency, along with wife Linda and son Nathan.
Overflow from Old Hickory Lake and Percy Priest Lake caused
the Cumberland River to crest over its banks and put Davenport
and Associates’ 20,000 square foot warehouse under 8 feet of
water. Their offices, computer equipment and 31 years worth
of business records were all eradicated in one weekend.
The Davenports got to see the damage 4 days later when the
flood waters finally receded. Everything in their office and
warehouse lay under a ˝” thick layer of mud and sewage from
the flooded filtration plant nearby. No one could enter the
premises without a tetanus shot; other hazards included mold,
bacteria and an unrelenting odor from the sewage left behind.
Davenport and Associates has the distinction of being the first
rep to sign on with Benny Di Donato and Topaz Electric some
18 years ago. As the cleanup was getting started Kermit looked
up and was surprised to see Ken Gomes, one of the founders of
Topaz Electric, standing at his warehouse door. Ken, in town
for his granddaughter’s graduation from Vanderbilt, had no idea
Nashville had been affected so hard. Topaz moved quickly to
authorize the disposal of all Topaz fittings ruined in the flood
so the Davenports could begin rebuilding. “Just to find Kermit
and Linda working on a card table, with a small lam, in the
back of a darkened warehouse trying to ‘regroup’, broke my heart.
It’s great to know they’ve come all the way back now. I salute
them!” said Ken.
Kermit credits the entire Topaz team and Pam Walter in particular,
for keeping the orders flowing and the customers happy during
the 8 weeks it took to dispose, sanitize and rebuild the premises.
Danielle Strandvold put extra stock in the Jacksonville DC,
and fellow rep Bob Andrews of Berry Elsberry Company beefed
up stock in his Atlanta warehouse to support Tennessee orders.
Benny Di Donato stated, “We were committed to doing whatever
Davenport needed to get back on their feet.”
Thanks to the Davenport’s hard work and the support of their
many customers, manufacturers and business friends, their agency
has reopened in record breaking time. Original estimates were
at least 6 months to clean and rebuild. They are now fully restocked
with all of their lines including a complete inventory of Topaz
fittings and electrical supplies.
If there’s a silver lining to this cloud - the business is
now laid out in a more efficient floor plan, and the equipment
is all state of the art. Kermit and his family have a new viewpoint
too: “Watching as a front end loader scoops your life’s efforts
into construction dumpsters makes you realize life is so much
more than stuff. I have been given the opportunity to continue
life with a new zeal for family, friends, customers and manufacturers.
Along with this opportunity I want to thank God for seeing us
through this ordeal and for allowing all of us affected to understand
that He will see us thru all our problems.”
