Julie Mills lost everything in her warehouse at Beaver Hardware when weekend floodwaters damaged the inventory in the almost century old store.

All the water heaters. All the showers. All the toilets.

All gone.

Then, Monday morning, an Oak Hill Garbage truck dangled feebly 2 inches from the same warehouse washed clean of its product.

But, thanks to noble efforts by Billy Peters with Glen’s Towing Service, the truck was winched up from a 5-foot ditch moments before the road collapsed, which would have sent the truck tumbling into the building.

“The road fell out,” Peters said. “The asphalt was breaking out under (the truck) as we were working on it. It could have went at anytime.”

Mills said they had set up a “makeshift” barrier over an area of the road that was breaking away. The barrier was comprised of tires and driftwood that had “floated” to them from flooding.

“Apparently (the truck) drove over the barrier,” she said. “The truck was precariously hung over an eroded, collapsed roadway. He did a great job.”

Peters said it was odd the road fell out and that in his eight years of service with Glen’s he’s never had a call like that.

Mills, who managers the store — owned by Clark Mills — with her husband Tri Mills III, said the warehouse looked like a bomb had gone off in it.

“We lost everything,” she said, still muddy from cleaning up. “We’re about to struggle and go through hard times. We’re committed to fighting through this.”

Almost 5 feet of water inundated the warehouse, she said.

Mills added “The water was incredible, never seen anything like it.”

Despite the lose of thousands of dollars and the slim chance of a garbage truck rolling into their soaked building, she was flattered by those people — some she knew, and some she didn’t — who came out to help their neighbors.

“People came to help us, a lot of people I’ve never seen before,” she said. “It’s really quite heartwarming — people have really, really came together to help.”

The hardware store’s doors opened Monday at 8 a.m. as the garbage truck teetered. She said they opened so quickly because they had to.

“People have relied on this business for almost a century,” she said. “I want to be here to help people get through times like this.”

Despite losing a vast majority of their inventory and not having the insurance to cover the damages, Mills is hopefully optimistic.

“You can’t give in to it,” she said. “I’m coping with it like a death — I’ve been very angry, depressed — but you have to rally. You have to pick up and keep going.”

— E-mail: cjackson@register-herald.com