ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – If another major hurricane hits Northeast Florida, it could create a devastating impact for businesses and employees in St. Johns County.
A report published in the St. Augustine Record found that if a Category 2 hurricane were to hit St. Johns County in the future, the storm surge could damage more than 1,000 businesses and impact 17,000 workers.
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During Hurricanes Matthew and Irma, homes and businesses in St. Augustine suffered severe flooding and damage.
Steve Olita, who manages La Herencia Café on Aviles Street, said they did not suffer any physical damage, but the flooding was too close for comfort.
“It was devastating for business,” Olita said. “We were closed, I think, a week or two both times and luckily we didn’t take on any water with either one, but it definitely affected business.”
St. Augustine is a major tourism town, known as the nation's oldest city. Many of the local shops count on tourists to sustain business.
After both hurricanes, Olita said, business slowed down for several weeks. If a hurricane hits in the near future, he is worried for all businesses in the area.
“People have told me that they don’t know if they could recover from another one. They’ve already had to dig deep,” Olita said. “But so far, so good. Hopefully, we don’t have one this year.”
However, if Northeast Florida does get hit by another hurricane, Olita said businesses are better prepared because of their experiences with Matthew and Irma.
"We have a lot of electronics and stuff like that and important cooking stuff that would be ruined if it was underwater, so we just kind of elevate all that stuff in our back,” Olita said.
After the city was hit by Hurricanes Matthew and Irma in back-to-back years, Olita said he feels like the city has a good system in place to deal with future flooding.