NORTH ANDOVER, MASS. (WHDH) - Thousands of donated wedding dresses were destroyed at a charity in North Andover as severe weather hit the area last week.
The storm caused severe flooding on Tuesday, Aug. 8, inundating the warehouse where nonprofit Brides Across America had been storing dresses, shoes and accessories for years.
“The water was so high,” said organization Founder and CEO Heidi Janson.
Janson said all the gowns were meant to be donated to brides in the military as well as first responders and frontline healthcare workers.
Brides Across America in a statement said it has donated more than 28,000 gowns since its inception in 2008. After flooding, damaged items now sit in large piles on the ground.
Janson said she has felt feelings of disbelief and shock.
“I was just probably numb pretty much the whole week,” she said.
Officials said Brides Across America is looking at nearly $7 million worth of product and property damage and has to shut down its operations.
“We had boxes up to probably half the ceiling,” Janson said. “Those all got toppled down because the boxes wouldn’t hold the weight of the water. Everything is contaminated.”
As the cleanup begins, Janson this week said Brides Across America employees are hoping to recover from this setback.
“We need help right now to see if we can keep our mission going, so funding is really important right now because we had no flood insurance,” she said.
Brides Across America was only able to recover roughly one third of its inventory after last week’s flooding. By Tuesday of this week, large dehumidifiers could be seen set up outside the Brides Across America warehouse as part of cleanup efforts.
There is a GoFundMe campaign raising money for Brides Across America available at the link here.
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