MEMPHIS, Tenn. -

In recent weeks, the Deep South has been hit by the two-fisted fury of devastating tornadoes that have ripped apart places like Tuscaloosa, Ala., and rising floodwaters from the Mississippi River that have sunk towns along the Delta, leaving many injured, dead or homeless in their path.

Disasters such as these touch almost every aspect of a community’s livelihood, including everything from homes and businesses to churches and schools.

To shed some light on how the recent flooding along the Mississippi River and tornadoes elsewhere in the South have affected a slice of the car business in the region, Memphis Auto Auction director of business development Paul Rettenmaier talked with Auto Remarketing on Wednesday about the impact in his auction’s community and what Memphis AA plans to do to aid in the recovery.

Fortunately for the auction, Memphis AA was not directly hit by the floodwaters. However, the auction has certainly been indirectly affected by the flood’s wake.

“Our auction is in about as safe an area you can be,” Rettenmaier explained. “Where the problems are arising is people’s personal property.”

Some of the auction’s employees and dealer customers have lost homes and cars in the flooding. What’s more, some of the auction’s clients in Mississippi were affected by the tornadoes that swept through that part of the South.

United Auto Recovery, a sister company of the auction, has been impacted by banks in the region that have temporarily suspended repossessions in the wake of homes being destroyed by the storm.

And though the auction’s activities have been relatively "business-as-usual", Rettenmaier did point out that, “we have lost some business, as far as Arkansas clients that bring cars in,” citing the damage done in that state.

In response to the flooding, the auction made it priority No. 1 to make sure its employees and their families were safe. And if the employees need time away to take care of their families in the wake of the disaster, the auction has, of course, allowed that.

The auction has tried to stay open for business if at all possible, and Rettenmaier cites the employees’ dedication to making it in to work for allowing that to happen.

“It just speaks to the character of the people we have here,” he said. “It’s fantastic.”

And it’s a big time for the auction right now. The city is holding its “Memphis in May International Festival,” and the auction is taking clients to the BBQ cooking contest portion of the event that runs today through Saturday.

Memphis AA also held its “Memphis in May BBQ Sale” on Wednesday, so a quick response from employees was needed.

Flooding Hits North

The Deep South wasn’t the only area to have been recently impacted by flooding and tornadoes. Further north in Pennsylvania, Lynn Weaver at Harrisburg Auto Auction said that on April 28, his auction got the worst flooding it has ever seen.

“Just about every stream and river flooded, not severely … (but) the flood here at the auction was the worst we’ve ever had in the 30 years we’ve been here,” Weaver told Auto Remarketing on Wednesday.

At his facility, waters rose as high as five to six feet. The floodwater went from the main public road, halfway back to the dealer parking lot and completely immersed the driveway into the auction facility.

The auction was able to move cars out of the way, but many were damaged by the flooding. In fact, Weaver said that the April 28 flooding, combined with a storm the prior week, led to about 75 cars with at least some kind of water damage.

The auction would also end up losing about 30 percent of its dealer parking lot, and personnel were actually working on re-graveling it on Wednesday.

Despite the weather, Harrisburg AA still held its usual Thursday sale on April 28. The auction had to move cars, re-route incoming traffic and divert employees coming in.

Harrisburg AA worked with local law enforcement and also had about 20 of its employees helping with traffic during the day, as careful maneuvering had to be made both before and after the sale to get attendees in and out.

But, he said, the auction managed to have a pretty good sale that day. Between 1,000 and 1,050 of the 1,700 registered units were sold.

“It was just an amazing feat,” Weaver said, giving the credit to his employees and dealers for their cooperation.

Community Response

Just like many auctions and other auto-related companies have done when disaster has struck before, Harrisburg AA and Memphis AA both plan to lend a hand in the recovery.

Up North in Harrisburg, Weaver said the worst part about the disasters was the tornadoes that hit the area. While his area was bypassed, one of his dealer customers was hit pretty badly, so the auction is planning to help that store out with a scratch-and-dent sale at the auction.

As far as how his auction will offer its services to the greater Memphis community, Rettenmaier emphasized that his facility will have to wait for the flood waters to go down, which is likely to take a month.

“Right now, there’s not much you can do until the water goes down,” he explained.

After the damage has been assessed, Rettenmaier said the auction’s staff will use their expertise and available equipment and vehicles — trucks, vans, etc. — to help the community in whatever way it needs.

The auction will approach the local government to see how it can help.

“If they need us, they know they can count on us,” Rettenmaier stressed.