Florida small companies hammered by back-to-back hurricanes: ‘Simply going to say a prayer’

Gray Bull Rescue Chairman Bryan Stern assesses the harm following Hurricane Milton as he seems to be to help restoration efforts in Florida.

Natalia Levey, who co-owns 5 eating places in Florida together with her husband, Mark, has been praying for a miracle since Hurricane Helene slammed the area final month.

She’s certainly one of numerous small enterprise house owners which have been hammered by two hurricanes in as many weeks. Milton made landfall in Florida in Sarasota County on Thursday as a Class 3 storm, two weeks after Helene struck.

One in every of their eateries, Speaks Clam Bar, is positioned in Sarasota’s St. Armands Circle, which options greater than 140 upscale boutiques, eating places and artwork galleries. They personal one other Speaks Clam Bar in Lakewood Ranch and three different eating places – Kojo, Bar Hana and Palm Avenue Deli – on Palm Ave. in Sarasota. 

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Levey instructed FOX Enterprise that she hasn’t been in a position to assess the complete extent of the harm attributable to Milton as a result of the bridges to the island are nonetheless closed. Nevertheless, Helene, which made landfall in Florida’s Massive Bend area on Sept. 26, already left “extensive damage” to Speaks Clam Bar in St. Armands Circle.

Harm at Speaks Clam Bar in St. Armands Circle in Sarasota after Hurricane Helene.  (Natalia Levey)

Fearing extra wreckage, Levey and her staff sealed up the restaurant for 2 days. She recalled feeling “very emotional.”

“As soon as the power shut off, I was like, ‘OK, we’re just going to say a prayer and hopefully a miracle [will] happen’,” she instructed FOX Enterprise. 

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Harm at Speaks Clam Bar in St. Armands Circle in Sarasota after Hurricane Helene.  (Natalia Levey)

The Speaks Clam bar in St. Armands had 2 to three ft of water harm after the primary storm. Furnishings was scattered throughout the ground and machines have been broken, Levey mentioned.

“The smell was bad. It was heartbreaking to walk into that building,” she mentioned.

She estimated that the primary storm had already triggered tons of of 1000’s of {dollars} in harm. 

Harm at Speaks Clam Bar in St. Armands Circle in Sarasota after Hurricane Helene.  (Natalia Levey)

Their staff had already began to do repairs and repair the drywall after Helene so they might get again to enterprise as quickly as attainable. Additionally they began to arrange and take stock so they might at the very least reopen the second ground, and get again to paying their workers. 

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Now, Levey has no thought when that might be.

“They still have bills to pay. They still have families to take care of,” she mentioned. “I haven’t slept in about two weeks.”