Great to see you back in the Forum, Jake. You've been through some experiences that most of us - fortunately for us - can hardly imagine. I ran out of words to express my sympathy several months ago.
We went through a pretty severe hurricane, Hurricane Floyd, here in North Carolina back in '99. Nobody who lives in this part of the state will ever forget it. My family lost some trees, part of a fence, and a 1997 Pontiac Grand Am. (It sank. I had to fight an epic battle with an insurance adjustor, but eventually he came around to the view that it was totaled and paid the claim.) The street in front of my office was under four feet of water for several days; apartment dwellers who lived on the banks of the Tar River lost their possessions to "pirates" riding jetskis, who gained entrance directly through second-story windows. The resources of the community and the state were stretched to the breaking point. (It's been estimated that the rate of increase in the average standard of living in North Carolina got set back by at least five years.) At the time it seemed we were witnessing about the worst nature could do to a bunch of relatively innocent people. But in comparison with what Louisiana's been through during the past few months, Floyd suddenly seems pretty trivial.
Here's hoping your model shop gets back in business in due course. Setting up a new shop from scratch can actually be kind of fun - and the new one is almost guaranteed to be better than the old one. Good luck.
Youth, talent, hard work, and enthusiasm are no match for old age and treachery.