'I need to find another location': Rocky Mount auto shop owner plans to rebuild after EF3 tornado

Friday was the first day Alpha Automotive’s owner, Alex Burgess, could take in the damage to his shop since he was pulled from the rubble after an EF3 tornado in Rocky Mount brought the walls down around him. 

Burgess said he’s had many sleepless nights looking back on Sept. 27, the day the tornado hit.

“Every time I close my eyes, I see stuff falling on me,” he said.

Security camera footage shows the last moments that the shop at 1286 North Wesleyan Blvd. was standing before Burgess said he was thrown across the room as the shop deteriorated around him.

“That roof opened up and started throwing cinder blocks at us at a speed you couldn’t even block,” he said. 

Burgess has several broken ribs, a fractured spine, torn ligaments and abrasions all over his body. 

His wife, Athena Burgess, said she’s just grateful he lived to tell the tale.

“My heart literally hit the floor,” she said. “I thought my husband was no longer here.”

Burgess said he and his wife opened the business three and a half years ago, living out a lifelong dream.

“We didn’t get a loan to start a business,” he said. “We went into our bank accounts and started this business.”

Burgess said he has plans to reopen but in a different location.

“I need to find another location, and I will rebuild,” he said. “I’m not going to let this stop me.”

He said it wouldn’t be simple, though. The assistance from the city of Rocky Mount has run out, and he’s waiting to hear back on an insurance payout.

“I don’t ask for help a lot. This is one of the only times I do ask for help,” he said.

Yet, Burgess said he’s still grateful to have his life.

“It’s going to be a road to recovery, but at least I am blessed enough to go down that road,” Burgess said. “[My family] could have been planning the funerals for us right now.”

A spokesperson for the city of Rocky Mount said the damage falls beneath the amount to receive federal aid.

People can donate to Alpha Automotive’s recovery here.