DEAR Editor,-
Many call us the ‘Slow Coast’, but there are local service providers who can certainly act quickly in an emergency.
The Herald has some of them to thank after the roof blew off in a sudden gust, which caused havoc on the coast on Saturday afternoon.
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Corrugated iron sheeting was in danger of blowing into the traffic on the main road running through Port Shepstone late that afternoon.
Top Dog Construction was there within minutes. Risking serious injury from the buckled sheets being whipped about in the gale, the ‘green team’ soon dragged them to safety.
Meanwhile, several Herald stalwarts rushed into the office of their own accord and covered all computer equipment with black bags, hoping to save them from the rain now pouring through the ceiling.
It was too dangerous to get up on the roof right then, so the Herald offices were at the mercy of the elements for the entire night.
There was a very real threat that we would not have been able to produce our newspapers this week.
Top Dog was on the scene again early the next morning and managed to get roof sheeting from one of our most loyal advertisers, Bazley Hardware, who opened up especially for us.
The construction team worked in the pouring rain throughout the day and managed to get a secure, albeit temporary roof back on the Herald.
Monday morning we fully expected to see all our equipment ruined.
Top Dog was back on scene again, accompanied by Gavin and Jarrod van Wyk and their team from Hibiscus Coast Electrical and teams from Donovan Currie’s Qualchem armed with industrial vacuum cleaners.
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Within hours, the Herald was back up and running at nearly full speed.
Thanks to our fantastic Herald team, Top Dog Construction, Hibiscus Coast Electrical, Qualchem and Bazley for such great service. You guys saved our bacon
Oh and thanks also to all the caring members of the public who phoned to give us the heads up. It was a dangerous situation as the sheeting could have caused serious damage to passing cars if left flapping about much longer.
BEVIS FAIRBROTHER
Manager, South Coast Herald
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