17-05-2025
Somerset tattoo shop declared total loss after storms: ‘We're going to believe'
Video note: Despite this article's time stamp, the above video is the latest forecast from The Weather Authority.
SOMERSET, Ky. (FOX 56) — From Friday night into the early hours of Saturday morning, devastating tornadoes and hazardous storms swept the Bluegrass. Emergency management teams worked with first responders to save lives and bring victims to safety while power crews began working to restore power to over 100,000 statewide customers who had lost it.
According to the Somerset Police Department, Highway 27 was closed on Saturday between stoplights 19 and 25. All side roads in the path of the tornado have been closed 'due to downed power lines, building damage, and hazardous conditions.'
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Parkers Mill Road is reportedly open from the 914 bypass to Koger Circle, but there is no through traffic to Hwy 27. Quality Custom Tattoos, one of many businesses in that area, said the shop was lost overnight.
The studio posted images of the damage on social media, showing flash tattoo designs covered by debris, with a collapsed ceiling where an artist's station had been.
Despite the loss, Quality Custom's staff said that a sign above a doorway that resonated with the artists stood through the storms.
'As you can see from the first picture, the storm couldn't shake our 'believe' sign,' tattoo shop staff wrote. 'That's us in a nutshell. We're going to be okay. We're going to survive. We're going to believe.'
Austin Kane, master barber at Shriner's Barber Shop and Shave Parlor, another Somerset business, recalled on Facebook that he had gotten his first tattoo, and many after it, at Quality Custom.
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'It's been a home for incredible tattoo artists in our town,' Kane said.
A GoFundMe has been set up to help the owner of Quality Custom Tattoos rebuild after the shop's total loss. Organizers of the fundraiser said they know many community members have already given to someone in need, but asked folks near and far to join them in helping a friend and mentor.
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