Buford Nursery Destroyed by Tornado

BUFORD, Ga. - New images of destruction and stories of close calls are still surfacing from last week’s toado in Buford. Now, owners of the only business that suffered damage tell FOX 5 about how their operation was leveled and how their workers were sent home just in time.

It's a scene of remarkable contradiction. In places, between the twisted metal and piles of to plastic that tell a story of devastation, there are vibrant violets and pops of yellow that try to tell the story of what Premier Nursery used to be.

"Well the damage is totaled, said Lewis Sharp, the nursery’s owner. ”The whole property was leveled."

Sharp and his family own Premier Growers, and in good times, the flowers they produce and sell to landscapers are amazing. But after last Tuesday’s toado, their properties took on a very different look.

Across Gravel Springs Road, where more than 50 houses were damaged, the same storm destroyed 34 green houses.

”Someone losing their house is devastating, a lot more devastating than what we went through, said Sharp. ”But that was our original property-- it's over 20 years old and it's sad to see it go."

The flowers were the real loss. One fifth of the company's fall crop is grown at the damaged facility. After the storm, it was all wiped out. But timing, tued out to be everything.

The storm came days after the busiest week of the season, and on that day, the workers left an hour before the winds started blowing.

"Normally they would be there, said Sharp. ”A week before, they would be working until 10 or 12 at night on that property. There could have been at minimum of 20 employees, and maximum of 30 employees on that property just a week before."

It makes this another close call-- another reason to be thankful in wake of that storm.

Premier plans on rebuilding. New greenhouses are already in the works for April, the next busy season for flowers.