B93 'Bashed' car towing starts Saturday

IONIA, Mich. (WOOD) - People who haven't been able to get to their vehicles since the flood at the B-93 Birthday Bash will get an opportunity Saturday.

The flood that ended the show last Saturday has subsided. Saturday the first cars will be pulled out, two days earlier than expected.

If you're on the docket to be towed Saturday, you should have already been called and told to meet at the ISD Building on Harwood Road beginning at noon.

From there owners will be taken to their car, which will have been towed out of the lot that flooded to higher ground.

A local company got the contract to do the big job at the fairgrounds, but many others are standing by for the aftermath.

"We're going to go in start hooking cars and start moving them to higher ground for 'em," said John Hoppes, co-owner of Portland-based Reed & Hoppes.

Hoppes says B-93 called them Thursday to get the 1,000 vehicles out.

It's the biggest job yet for Reed & Hoppes, but the towing company has been around for more than 60 years and Hoppes says they know exactly what to do.

We're going to take as much care and custody of the cars possible," said Hoppes. "The 4-wheel drives we're going to load those on flatbeds and take them out, anything that's locked up and will not roll, otherwise the tow trucks will be hauling the cars out that will roll."

The vehicles will be taken from the once flooded south lot to a staging area with insurance adjusters. Those adjuster will make the decision on whether the vehicle is totaled or repairable.

Royce King, the Fix Operations Director, at Berger Chevrolet in Ionia says a number of factors will come into play.

"It really depends on the value of your car, the insurance company standards, the year and how much its going to be to replace it," King said. He added Berger Chevrolet is ready for about 50% of the vehicles to come their way.

He'll have two people dedicated solely to washed out cars.

"To be honest what I anticipate is that the majority of those cars are going to be totalled," King said. "Simply because the repairs/estimates are going to be way expensive."

As for the cars that can be repaired, King says he's anticipating an minimum turnaround of 5 to 10 days.

King gave an important tip for people who are picking up their cars, check the oil. If the level appears to be over, he recommends not to start your car because more than likely it means you have a lot of water mixed in the tank.