Home Depot store destroyed by Dallas tornado reopening soon

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(Home Depot)

DALLAS - The Home Depot store on Forest Lane in Dallas is finally reopening a year after the building was hit by an EF-3 tornado.

A spokeswoman for Home Depot said the rebuilt store on Forest Lane will open to the public on Thursday.

It has been closed since Oct. 20, 2019 when an EF-3 ripped through North Dallas. Part of the store collapsed but incredibly, no one was hurt.

(Home Depot)

(SKY 4)

The store’s manager said he saw the severe weather reports that day and sent most of the employees home early. He sent the last few employees home and closed up the store about 30 minutes before the tornado hit.

“Rebuilding efforts were not easy, especially when you factor in the COVID-19 pandemic which brings additional challenges of its own. With the resilience of our team and the support of the community, we were able to rebuild and are thrilled to be back in our original location,” said Libby Wilson, a corporate spokeswoman for Home Depot.

The new store will feature more optimized checkout and customer service areas, new storage and produce displays and an area where customers can pick up online purchases, Wilson said.

About 200 to 250 people were hired to work at the location and Home Depot hopes to hire even more in the near future.

The Home Depot on Forest Lane has made headlines multiple times over the past few years.

In March, two Dallas County deputies were indicted for stealing from the tornado damaged store where they were supposed to be working off-duty security.

Also in 2018, a Dallas police officer was shot and killed in the store after responding to a shoplifting call. A second officer and a Home Deputy employee were also injured in the shooting.

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