- Hurricane Idalia sent a storm surge of eight feet up the Steinhatchee River on Aug. 30, 2023.
- That high water damaged businesses along the river.
- Watch the video above to see how the community has made a recovery over the last 12 months.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Friday marks one year since storm surge swamped Steinhatchee.
"Mud, grass, everywhere. It was a lot of damage, it took a lot of time, a lot of manpower."
In 2023, Hurricane Idalia turned many lives here upside down.
Good morning, I'm neighborhood reporter Kenya Cardonne, checking in on the community that has been hard at work over the past year to undo that.
Chris Williams, Manager at Steinhatchee Marina at Deadman Bay - "You never expect it's going to hit you. It's like everything else: it always happens to somebody else. But when it actually hits you, it's too late."
Looking back at Hurricane Idalia— a storm that absolutely wreaked havoc on Steinhatchee.
ABC 27 was on the ground following what was nearly a total washout.
Officially one year later, we're tracking the recovery in this small but mighty town.
I stopped by Steinhatchee Marina at Deadman Bay— one of several coastal businesses here that felt the brunt of Idalia's intense surge.
Williams - "Basically 5 ft of water plus the waves. The waves came all the way up and hit underneath the docks and hit underneath the tiki hut so.. it was significant."
The storm wrecked the kitchen, equipment, docks, marina forklifts and more.
Williams - "Mud, grass, everywhere. It was a lot of damage, it took a lot of time, a lot of manpower."
After tackling a massive cleanup, Manager Chris Williams tells me it's thanks to the team of employees and help from the community that the business was able to open back up within a month.
A kind of perseverance he says is here to stay..
Williams - "No matter what storm comes, we're going to clean up. We're going to keep serving the people. That's what we're here for."
Idalia repairs cost this business hundreds of thousands of dollars.
