Wedding Dresses Drowned

A geyser, a roof collapse and suddenly the biggest day in a bride's life is in limbo.

Here's what happened: A vehicle slammed into a hydrant at a strip mall at the intersection of Pacific Heights and Mira Mesa Boulevard at about 3 p.m. Now one of those spectacular San Diego geysers shoots water up and onto the roof of the Sorrento Mesa industrial mall. In a short time, the pooled water has enough weight to lead to a partial collapse of the roof.

A news helicopter arrives and the destruction becomes visible -- dozens, possibly hundreds of white wedding dresses are victim to the calamity, and suddenly who knows how many weddings are in limbo.

The owner of the Isis Bridal Boutique said his business -- including both custom-ordered gowns and 200 others -- is a total loss. August was inside the business with his wife and a customer at the time of the collapse. He estimated damage at several hundred thousand dollars.

It's clearly a shame --it sounds like, from Yelp.com customer reviews, that the folks at Isis really know their stuff.

"I bought my wedding dress here," wrote M.S. of San Diego. "They turned my wedding dress shopping into a wonderful, memorable, exciting experience from a dreadful, frustrating, despicable experience."

The Michael Christmas Photography studio is also in the mall complex, but it's not known if that business was affected by the collapse. As of 5 p.m., first responders were keeping everyone back from the building until its structural integrity of the building was assessed.

Eric S. Page reports about all things San Diego, but he draws the line at cat stories. You can follow his updates at twitter.com/espage or send him a story idea.

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