Palm Springs Liquor shares recovery journey weeks after bombing
Kendall Flynn
PALM SPRINGS, Calif. (KESQ) – For businesses, like Palm Springs Liquor, recovery and cleanup efforts are still underway after the bombing of the American Reproductive Centers May 17.
The liquor store, just dozens of feet away from the parking lot of the IVF clinic, sustained extensive damage, after a parked vehicle exploded at the American Reproductive Centers.
“56 windows were damaged,” Owner Moussa Dourghalli said. “Some of the inventory, a lot of the bottles, some of the expensive bottles, the AC units, both of them were damaged. They were shifted 14 inches from the pressure.”
Photo Courtesy: Moussa Dourghalli
Photo Courtesy: Moussa Dourghalli
Dourghalli said the damage is worth over $72,000, but he said it could have been even worse.
“My cousin was here,” he said. “When it happened he called me. So we were just in shock. Like it’s something unbelievable. You don’t expect something like that.”
Dourghalli’s cousin was sitting behind the cash register when the bombing happened. He said it was one of the only places in the store not damaged. Bottles even fell on either side of him, but did not harm him.
This is one of two situations Dourghalli said was luck for the family-owned business. He and his family bought the liquor store a year and a half ago, and was unsure of the insurance they had on the building.
Many other buildings with damage were unable to receive insurance aid because they didn’t have terrorism insurance. But Dourghalli said they got lucky.
“We didn’t know we had it. We called the insurance lady…we told her what happened…and then she called back with the good news. She said she check that one box by luck. I don’t know why she checked it. I just thank God she check it.”
While Dourghalli said he’s unsure what the insurance will cover, he has high hopes it will be everything. He did say the City of Palm Springs reached out to help rebuild, but he did not want to take additional money if there was a chance insurance could cover it.
Stay with News Channel 3 to hear more from Palm Springs Liquor on its rebuilding process and gratefulness.