DeLAND, Fla. – Crowds multiplied outside the DeLand Publix on East International Speedway Boulevard to see their favorite grocery store reopen after a plane crash.
The grand opening started with a prayer. Then more than one hundred shoppers streamed in, ready to move on from the devastation that happened here three months ago.
Store manager Todd Serwanski said he was working that night on April 2 when around 7 p.m. a small plane crashed through the roof of the store, nearly missing the other workers and shoppers inside.
Back then a witness described "all the lights went out. Then there was just fire everywhere."
"Yes, it was chaotic," Serwanski said. "But because of my people, the way they handled the customers, the way they handled everything, everything went very smoothly."
Remarkably, only one person was killed- the pilot of that plane.
Four people were hurt, the passenger in the plane and three customers.
"We have emergency situations put in place. But an airplane crash into a building? No you can't plan for that," Serwanski said.
Betty Ray calls it a miracle, she said she could have been here. She regularly shops at that Publix. But she was in church when she heard the news.
"So we began praying," said Ray.
Serwanski said all of the employees who were working at the Publix before are now back again.
"Believe it or not they wanted to come back," Serwanski said. "They were so excited. They just wanted to come home."
Publix would not reveal how much it cost to fix the damages to the store. But the city had once estimated it could be about $1 million.
Some businesses Local 6 spoke to around the Publix were affected by the store's closing.
Two weeks after Joseph Vaglica opened his Italian restaurant, Tiano's, the plane crashed through the Publix a few doors down.
"They sealed everything off here, and weren't allowing anyone in," he said.
Vaglica said the crash nearly destroyed his business.
The manager of the nail salon near the Publix told Local 6 she suffered as well.
"It's too slow, but now I think, this return back to normal," said manager Tiffany Vang.
The closing also took some local residents for a loop.
"I am ecstatic that it's back open because it was part of our life," said Garrett Stomberg, a DeLand resident.
Vaglica hopes the Publix will help keep his family business open.
"Without a doubt, we're excited to see where this brings us," he said.
Watch Local 6 for more on this story.
