- December 30, 2024
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Storms have often just been part of a year's work for businesses in Siesta Key Village.
"I feel like we're pros at this now," Jacque Slayton, manager of The Hub Baja Grill, had told the Observer on Sept. 25, as she put out sandbags and performed the needed precautions.
Yet the scene the day after the storm was far more severe than business owners and residents had anticipated.
The storm surge, which was described by County Commissioner Mark Smith as 3 feet in height in the area, left many businesses working to clean up, with repairs and renovations ahead.
On Oct. 1, many business owners and staff were still at work in the attempt to restore their spaces, as well as damaged equipment and materials.
Todd Morton, owner of Morton's Siesta Market and its sister stores, summarized the situation.
"I've been here my entire life," he said. "I've never seen the Key get flooded like this. You say storm surge; we know that's going to happen, but covering the entire Key, never we would have thought, in a million years, that would happen."
Katie Spelman, a manager for Above the Bar Hospitality Group, which owns The Hub, described a scene of "devastating loss."
"I've never seen anything like this. It's pretty much as bad as it gets," she said.
The company also owns several other restaurants in Siesta Key, including The Cottage just next door, which shares a kitchen with The Hub, and The Beach Club across the street.
On the morning of Oct. 1, The Hub and The Cottage were discarding what Spelman said probably totaled $50,000 in damaged kitchen equipment.
She also said that with power now restored, new issues were arising, including an exploding AC unit on the site.
“There's shorts all over the place, little electrical fires all over the place,” she said, noting an electrician had been present throughout the day.
Initially, the lack of power had posed a struggle for businesses.
Spelman, like Morton, said on Sept. 27 that the situation had made it difficult to asses damages, as the team was not able to tell what equipment was operational.
Spelman said restaurant interiors had taken on as much as five feet of water, and equipment in kitchens was found to have tipped over.
"We're missing five picnic tables still," she said, stating she believed the tables, which belonged to The Hub, to be somewhere to the north, carried away by the waves.
However, there was some hopeful news in regards to some of the restaurants.
As of Oct. 1, Siesta Poke is open, Summer House is open for lunch and dinner and My Village Pub is open with a limited menu.
The company is now hosting a gift card drive for their staff to request supplies including gloves, cleaning solution and more from vendors such as Boar's Head.
"We want to get (staff) back to the work, so that's what we're here for," she said.
Among the locations impacted by the storm was Village Cafe, an establishment that has been in business for 29 years in Siesta Key Village.
"We're trying to find a replacement now that everybody's trying to find replacements or new machines," said Tom Kouvatsos, who co-owns the restaurant with his wife Kay Kouvatsos. "For a restaurant that has 9 or 10 refrigeration units, good luck. It's really tough."
He said friends, family and community members have expressed interest in seeing the restaurant operational again, although it is difficult to find ways they can help.
"There's really nothing you can do unless you are a refrigeration guy, contractor, roofer, one of these things," he said. "We appreciate the sentiment that everybody's reaching out with."
He noted that with his and Kay's home surviving the storm, he was thankful they had fared better than many residents of the island.
Ascendia Group, a rental home company, found damage to its properties across the island.
"My husband and I are longtime residents of Sarasota, and we've never seen anything like this," said Beth Dilley, president of the company, who co-founded it with her husband Andy Olwert.
That day, she and the company's staff traveled through Siesta Key to assess damage.
They visited about 15-20 properties, she said, all of which had been flooded with at least two feet of water, and not all of which were located near the water.
"We saw washing machines and dryers turned upside down within the home, we saw furniture moved from one room to another, so when people are trying to understand the force of a storm surge, we got to witness it firsthand today," she said.
The cost of repairs is still being assessed, including new flooring, drywall, paint and furniture, and cleaning and mold remediation, with work starting tomorrow.
In one respect, Morton's Siesta Market fared better than might have been expected.
When Hurricane Irma hit in 2017, it took down all three of the store's locations, said owner Todd Morton.
"Luckily, this time, our main store stayed operational," Morton said on Sept. 27. "We didn't lose power there, so we were able to save a lot of lot of perishables, but at the same time, there's a lot of cleanup to do."
However, business owners said the community has been pitching into help.
For instance, at The Hub, Russo's Restaurant Equipment & Supply delivered supplies, while Gold Coast Eagle Distributing brought water and hydrating drinks for those helping clean up the site.
"Seeing people helping each other has been pretty uplifting," said Nick Eposito, maintenance manager at Ascendia Group. "You're driving around and people are asking if you need help, or vice versa."
This story was updated on Oct. 1 to include current information.
