Midwest florists had more things to worry about last weekend than getting Mother's Day orders out, as thunderstorms and deadly tornados made their way through parts of Kansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Arkansas and Georgia.

With the storms and twisters hitting late Sunday evening, many florists fortunately had already had their orders out the door and in the hands of their recipients.

Though the tornado that ripped through nearby Picher, Okla., didn't directly affect Vinta Blossom Shop in Vinta, or its sister shop, Duff's Miami Floral, in Miami, Okla., owner Robyn Sunday says the following days were filled with sadness.

The tornado killed seven people and leveled 114 homes and is said to have completely totaled the city, which is unlikely to be rebuilt, according to the Associated Press, due to longstanding  pollution problems in the area.

Sunday says their Mother's Day deliveries were already finished by the time the storms rolled into the area later on in the evening, but they were still marked with tragedy as one of her designers completely lost her home.

The designer "wasn't home, but her husband was there," Sunday says. "He took cover and was safe. The shop in Miami will have the sad task of providing floral tributes for all of those who lost loved ones."

Over in Dublin, Ga., about 120 miles south of Atlanta, a tornado also struck on Sunday evening, killing one person. However, Jay Mullis of Classic Florist & Home Décor in Dublin says they stayed safe and all orders were delivered. "We got all our orders out on Saturday," he says.

Fifteen people were killed in southwestern Missouri when a tornado touched down about 8 miles north of Seneca. Wholesaler Jim Allan of Massa Distributing Company, about 18 miles from Seneca in Joplin, says none of his customers were affected, but a bridal store was "completely blown away."

"It's just unbelievable what these [storms] can do," Allan says.

--Kori Kamradt
kkamradt@safnow.org

 


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