Cool refuges such as laundries, restaurants and theaters buzzed, but places shuttered by the storm lost customers and inventory.
By JENNIFER LIBERTO
Published September 12, 2004
The echo of bowling balls knocking down pins is the tune of a slow rebound at Mariner Lanes.
The Spring Hill bowling alley lost power for only two days, after a downgraded Frances swept through the county with tropical-force winds and rain. Yet, in those hours, food spoiled, rain seeped underneath the doors and soaked carpets, and, worst of all, bowling balls stood still.
Edie Jo Norman estimates she lost at least $15,000.
"We lost a Sunday and a Monday on a holiday weekend, which is good for open bowling, and you never regain that," said Norman, who also lost a few days' worth of bowling league customers. "There are a lot people who don't realize the type of impact a storm has on businesses."
It wasn't as bad as it could have been. But many Hernando County business owners reported losing tens of thousands of dollars because of the storm.
Although structural damage from wind and rain was minor and covered by most standard business insurance policies, several companies - big and small - said they lost days of business, mostly because of power outages.
"I think there's going to be a burp in the economy, but we're too deep in the middle of this to find out what the impact really is at this point," said Maria Kretschmar, president of the Greater Hernando County Chamber of Commerce, whose Spring Hill advertising company, Visual Spectrum, lost a project and some sales because of Hurricane Charley and Frances. "People are concerned about their homes and their personal protection and the storm that's coming."
The chamber office fielded so many calls from struggling storm-struck businesses that chamber leaders decided to form a task force to gather information advising storm-struck companies how to get back on their feet.
"We will have that information out to everyone, because our small businesses are sitting there and they don't know where to turn," said Jacqueline Morris, the chamber's executive director.
The only government assistance available to storm-ravaged businesses is Small Business Administration loans. Hernando County businesses could qualify for 2.9 percent, 30-year loans of up to $1.5-million dollars, which can be used on structural repairs, debris removal and economic losses, SBA spokesman Michael Lampton said.
Among businesses hardest hit in Hernando were restaurants that lost power for days. Not only did the restaurants lose food that had to be dumped; they also lost out on the opportunity to serve thousands of powerless residents who couldn't cook and flocked to restaurants for a hot meal.
The few chain restaurants that were open during the storm - including Sonic, McDonald's and Dunkin' Donuts - ran out of key ingredients and meals by Monday evening, because of the constant line of customers and no food deliveries. By Tuesday, competition had increased as most of the county's restaurants had reopened.
Yet, several grocery stores and restaurants had to empty refrigerators and freezers and throw away spoiled food. The Bayport Inn had no electricity until Friday and had to throw out all of its food and be reinspected by the state, employees said.
The Nouvelle Cuisine restaurant in Spring Hill lost power for 65 hours, but called upon fellow Belgians at St. Sebastiaan Belgian Microbrewery in Spring Hill, which did not lose power and stored the smaller restaurant's food in its big refrigerators.
"We didn't have a backup plan. With no electricity, we would have stored our food in our ice machine, but after a while that doesn't help," said Nouvelle Cuisine owner Isabelle Roos. The restaurant lost several days of revenue before reopening Thursday.
Power outages paralyzed several financial businesses, including the Spring Hill accounting firm of Kierzynski & Associates CPA, which has been facing the Sept. 15 deadline for federal tax returns that were granted extensions.
While driving Thursday, Gloria Kierzynski saw and chased a moving Withlacoochee River Electric Cooperative truck and begged its drivers to repair a fallen power line that had left her business at 5143 Commercial Way and the surrounding plaza dark for days.
"I followed them until it stopped, and I said, "I know you're really busy, but there's a street down here with a wire down,' " said Kierzynski, whose company regained power Friday afternoon. "He laughed at me."
Bill Richards not only lost potential income at For Fours Acres Lodge, a kennel south of Brooksville, but he had a hard time caring for the pets already in his custody. The business runs on a well, and it had no power to pump until late Thursday. Richards had to turn potential customers away as he struggled to sanitize the grounds using bottles of water he got at Wal-Mart.
"Our first concern is keeping a healthy environment for our pets, and we're sacrificing some of our housekeeping to do that," Richards said.
Tourist destinations took a particularly hard economic hit because the storm swept through during what could have been a busy and lucrative Labor Day weekend.
Weeki Wachee Springs estimated it lost $70,000 in ticket sales last week, compared to the week of Labor Day in 2003, marketing director John Athanason said. And though the water park, Buccaneer Bay, reopened Tuesday, business was slow all week.
Power outages silenced Rogers' Christmas House Village for five days, the longest the Brooksville landmark had been closed in decades. Although famous for remaining open rain or shine, 364 days a year - every day but Christmas - the gift store did not get power until Friday. And business was slow when it opened, manager Weiland Rogers said.
"People probably aren't aware that we've reopened," Rogers said.
The Christmas House was also damaged by water. And the storm knocked down tree limbs, palm fronds and Spanish moss throughout the gardens on the grounds. A few businesses that kept electricity and steered clear of damage benefited from the storm.
Powerless residents packed coin-operated laundries, video rental stores and movie theaters, including the Touchstar, the second-run theater off U.S. 19 in Spring Hill.
For two days, nearly every movie at the theater was packed with families seeking air conditioning and cheap entertainment for out-of-school children.
Families forked over $2 a ticket and watched movie after movie, all day long, said concession employee Erica Tresmeyer.
"Now that the kids are back in school, it's slowed down," Tresmeyer said Wednesday. "But just wait until the 4 o'clock showing, when the sun's been beating people down. This place will be busy."
