Businesses on St. Armands Circle clean up after Hurricane Idalia flooding

Shops on the Circle received little water damage from the storm and plan to reopen Aug. 31 to Sept. 1.

By Petra Rivera
| 3:30 p.m. August 31, 2023

Jose Pavet of Cha Cha Coconuts on Aug. 31.

Longboat Key
Business

Business owners on St. Armands Circle spent the morning of Aug. 31 assessing the aftermath of Hurricane Idalia.

The Circle was flooded, which caused some water damage, but overall business owners were relieved with how things turned out.

"This was definitely much more water than Hurricane Ian," said Becki Westbrook from Gauthier Salon and Wellness Spa. "We had more trees fall down and wind with Ian. But I heard that the king tide and blue moon together made this surge worse."

Most shops reopened to the public in the morning after cleaning and drying their businesses. They put their outdoor furniture back out and cleaned the sidewalks.

It was a team effort to get everything back to normal. Some places such as Cafe L'Europe hired restoration specialists to make the process easier.

"Water can be cleaned," said Rachel Burns from the St. Armands Circle Association. "That's why when I was messaging and talking to merchants from the area, everybody was just so thankful because from what we could see it was just water."

Burns and business owners in the Circle said that everyone should be back up and running by Sept. 1 and ready for Labor Day Weekend.

Burak Sunani, Rafael Niccio and Jose Vaquez of Venezia Italian Restaurant

Carol Hayes cleaning up the inside of Coastal HoBo

Cafe L'Europe employees clean up on Aug. 31 after flooding from Hurricane Idalia.

Marisa Wadman of Mercantile Home and Apparel

author

Petra Rivera

Petra Rivera is the Longboat community reporter. She holds a bachelor’s degree of journalism with an emphasis on reporting and writing from the University of Missouri. Previously, she was a food and drink writer for Vox magazine as well as a reporter for the Columbia Missourian.