Brandon Davis and his husband, Davie, said they were "over the moon" when they finally opened their queer bar and event space, DayTrip, in Asheville, North Carolina, on Aug. 22.
Plans to host LGBTQ fundraisers, burlesque shows, dog adoptions and other community events were in the works when it was all brought to a halt, Davis said.
Just over a month after the space opened to the public, it was decimated by Hurricane Helene.
Hurricane Helene made landfall in Florida on Sept. 26, and at least 242 people have died as a result of the storm, according to an NBC News tally.
Asheville experienced significant flooding, leading to widespread damage. Many residents are still struggling to find housing, and the destruction of major roads in the already difficult terrain of southern Appalachia has made the distribution of aid challenging.
Davis and Brandon have been lifelong bartenders. They developed the idea of DayTrip as a space for the queer community, featuring a bar and a coffee shop.
At first, Davis said, he didn't think their business would be affected by Hurricane Helene.
“We are in the mountains with 2,000 feet elevation and 300 miles from the coast, so we’ve never experienced being affected like this from a hurricane,” he said.
Although it felt "over precautious," Davis said, they still sandbagged the doors, along with other hurricane preparations.
"We put all of our sentimental stuff and expensive equipment 5 feet off the ground," he said.
The building ended up having 23 feet of water come up onto it, and DayTrip flooded up to the second floor, according to Davis.
When he returned to the space after the storm had passed, he said, it looked like "a scene from an end-of-the-world movie."
“It didn’t seem real,” he continued. “It looked like the building got picked up, spun around, shaken and then dropped back down.”
After the water began to recede, however, David said he realized they were extremely lucky.
"So many people lost their homes, or parents, children or spouses," he said. "So even though we lost our livelihood and financial security, we feel so lucky to be alive."
A GoFundMe fundraiser, verified by NBC News, to rebuild DayTrip and provide assistance to employees has surpassed its goal, raising more than $191,000.
Meredith Sims, a friend of Davis', started the campaign on behalf of the business owners, setting a goal of $180,000 — an estimate of their life savings and the large business loan that was taken out to finance the project.
"They spent countless months and so much blood, sweat and tears renovating the space and realizing their dream of creating a cozy and quirky place for friends and neighbors to come and feel welcome," she wrote. "It was that place for a sweet brief time."
Since the GoFundMe went live, Davis said, they have been overwhelmed with support — even from international supporters.
"Thousands and thousands of queer people from all over the world have been donating, and I don't have words to explain how grateful I am," he said.
Besides setting aside money to rebuild DayTrip, Davis said they have used funds to compensate employees, as well as donate to local volunteering efforts.
Davis has leveraged the DayTrip platform to not only support his family, business and employees, but to help other small businesses and community members.
"Having just opened on Aug. 22, I realized how hard it is and how it takes every single thing in you to open a business," he said. "You create it into your safe haven, your magical place of your dreams. To have that taken away from you is devastating."
DayTrip organized collection of cold-weather gear for the community, as officials in Buncombe County, where Asheville is, have said donations will be needed for Hurricane Helene survivors as temperatures drop this fall.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, has approved 24,500 applications for Buncombe County residents, adding to a total of $27 million as of Wednesday, according to county officials.
Davis said they intend to use the money raised through the GoFundMe to reopen DayTrip, and they plan to begin rebuilding in the spring.
As for the extensive list of community events that Davis had planned, he said he believes they will still happen. "We're just going to have to wait a little bit longer to do them, right?"
