Anna Maria’s business community bunkered up, waited out and even waded through the waters of Hurricane Helene.
The Islander spoke with business owners Darcie Duncan and Brian Seymour about staying on the island through the storm, damage to local businesses and post-storm recovery efforts.
Duncan, owner of Anna Maria-based Duncan Real Estate, told The Islander Sept. 28 that she stayed at her home on Chilson Avenue through the storm.
She said that she had a bad feeling about the hurricane and prepared her home and business offices in Anna Maria and Holmes Beach as best she could ahead of time.
Nevertheless, Duncan said the storm brought a “mind-blowing” surge that came “fast” and “fierce” around 9:30 p.m.
“We walked to the end of our driveway … and the water was racing down the street from the Gulf, and it was almost up to our waist,” she said. “It just started flushing down the street.”
Not long after, Duncan’s ground-level home began flooding — ultimately taking on about a foot and a half of water — but she was able to gather some items and make it up to a carriage house above her garage.
There, she waited out the remainder of the storm.
Duncan, an island native, said she’s never seen a worse storm hit the island. “I’ve lived here my whole life, my boyfriend is fifth generation and you’re talking to the old-timers — no one’s ever seen anything like this. Ever.”
The next day, she inspected her offices, which had both flooded during the storm.
Duncan’s main office on Pine Avenue needs to be “completely gutted and mitigated” due to water damage.
A secondary office on Marina Drive in Holmes Beach took on 2-3 feet of water and will require restoration.
While it could take some time to get back to normal, Duncan promised her staff their jobs would remain.
“I will get them through this. We will all work together. I’m going to keep my people employed and do everything I can because I know that we’ll come back and things will get cooking again,” she said. “But we’re in for a long haul.”
Duncan said she proactively lined up contractors and electricians for repairs, so she was hopeful to get things up and running as soon as possible.
However, she said recovery for other local businesses — many of which fared as bad or worse than her offices — may take longer.
Seymour, owner of the Anna Maria General Store, 503 Pine Ave., and the Grill and Bait Shop on the T-end of the Anna Maria City Pier, told The Islander Sept. 29 that his businesses were elevated, fortunate and might be able to reopen soon.
He lives in a second-floor condo behind the general store, where he chose to stay the night of the storm with his two dogs.
Seymour said that when the area began to flood, he grew concerned about his vehicle taking on water, so he drove it over to higher ground near Roser Memorial Community Church, 512 Pine Ave.
Around 10 p.m., Seymour waded through chest-high water on Pine to get back to check on his vehicle and charge his cellphone. He stayed in the vehicle until the storm surge began to recede around 2:30 a.m.
“I’m not the tallest guy, but it had to be three-and-a-half or four feet of water,” he said.
In the morning, Seymour found the general store and pier grill and bait shop had only taken on about two inches of water during the storm.
However, a new generator he had purchased for the general store was found “completely underwater,” leaving the business with only one smaller generator — just enough to power a cooler and one freezer.
Seymour added that the general store’s compressor rack, which controls the business’s freezers and refrigeration, had been submerged in saltwater during the storm and remained a roughly $75,000 question mark.
In the meantime, he was forced to dispose of $20,000-$25,000 of merchandise at the general store and about $10,000 of merchandise at the pier grill and bait shop.
In an effort to use what would be lost, the business gave away 200-250 bags of ice to islanders and had staff take home food that had not yet expired.
Seymour noted that many other businesses on Pine Avenue took on 3-4 feet of water during the storm and were in a far worse position.
“Everyone’s devastated. Nobody expected this kind of damage,” he said. “I think it took a lot of people by surprise.”
Seymour said he has checked on numerous properties for others following the storm and estimated more than 90% of the city’s ground-level properties had taken on water.
He said it could take a while for local businesses to recover from the storm.
“There is considerable damage up and down this island to the business community,” Seymour said. “For some, it’s going to take days. For some, it’s going to take weeks and for some it’s going to take months, if not years — if ever.”
“I wouldn’t see this island getting back to a sense of normalcy until — if we’re lucky — spring break of next year,” he added. “I don’t know how many homeowners and mom-and-pop businesses can survive.”
Recovery efforts
Following the storm, Duncan found herself spearheading local recovery efforts.
On Sept. 27, Duncan had a staff member create the Facebook group “Anna Maria Island Hurricane Helene Relief” to centralize island recovery and support efforts.
“The next thing you know, we were having people show up on my dock to deliver supplies,” she said. “We had a police escort tonight arrive at the Center (of Anna Maria Island) … with an entire box truck full of supplies.”
The Facebook group is public and had gained 5,711 members as of Sept. 29.
Duncan, who has worked with the Bradenton-based Manatee Community Foundation, said the MCF helped coordinate a group call between her and a handful of organizations to direct the support efforts.
“I have never in my life seen the outpouring of support and help,” she said. “It’s just been truly amazing.”
People can support island property owners, residents and businesses by donating to the MCF disaster relief fund at manateecf.org.
Resources for islanders — such as nonperishable food items, bottled water, bleach, mold remover, shovels, trash bags, paper towels and more — can be dropped off at a handful of locations, including:
- Meals on Wheels Plus at 811 23rd Ave. E, Bradenton, and 10920 State Road 70, Lakewood Ranch;
- O’Bricks, 427 12th St. W, Bradenton;
- Well Cycle Studio, 7109 15th Ave. NW, Bradenton;
- Mean Deans Local Kitchen, 6059 26th St. W, Bradenton.
MCF was set to distribute cleaning supplies on the island Oct. 2.