BLACKSBURG -- Gary Singh had just paid a company to replace all the signs at his Valero filling station on South Main Street. Then, amid the overnight sleet storm, the new pump canopy fell about 2 a.m. Friday causing about $200,000 in damage.

"I don't know what it's going to take" to get up and running again, Singh said Friday.

He bought the convenience store, formerly named Pilot, about three months ago and changed the name. Business had just begun to pick back up when the accident happened, Singh said. Singh also said he owns filling stations in New York and West Virginia.

Despite the damage, store clerk Kristi Mitchell was behind the counter in Blacksburg selling cigarettes and sodas Friday at noon. Mitchell said she's just glad the accident happened when the store was closed. She pointed to the crushed remains of a garbage can peeking out from under the fallen canopy.

"It's a good thing nobody was standing there," she said.

-- Tonia Moxley