How some business owners in Southwest Florida are recovering, almost two months after Hurricane Ian

After Hurricane Ian hit the southwest Florida in late September, Zac “Captain” Varner needed to wait seven days to see if his enterprise, Peace River Charters, was swallowed by the storm.

Rain and winds from Hurricane Ian prompted record-breaking flooding alongside the Peace River that put all six buildings at his Arcadia-based headquarters underneath water.

“Full devastation,” he mentioned. “Naturally, as a result of there’s so many parts to my enterprise, it was a whole lot of thought and planning on the place to begin first.”

Stationed on two websites alongside the Peace River in DeSoto County, his crew focuses on varied river and land excursions by airboat, horseback and “swamp buggy,” a marsh-traversing car much like a monster truck. The corporate, which has been in enterprise for ten years, additionally provides cabin leases, a bait-and-tackle store and an alligator exhibit.

“We’re form of a one-stop out of doors vacation spot store for southwest Florida,” he mentioned.

Varner mentioned that November sometimes marks the start of their busy season that lasts by means of April. Sometimes, this contributes to a dip in unemployment in Florida’s southwest counties.

However throughout a labor pressure replace on Friday, the chief of workforce statistics and financial analysis for the Division of Financial Alternative mentioned he “expects these numbers to go the opposite manner.”

“That is the primary month the info will present the impacts of Hurricane Ian,” mentioned Jimmy Heckman.

Statewide knowledge present unemployment elevated to 2.7% in October, up from 2.5% in September.

In the meantime, the labor pressure total continues to develop, with Heckman saying that record-breaking migration to the state of Florida is a possible contributor to constant labor pressure will increase in latest months.

READ MORE: Florida’s jobless fee climbs after Hurricane Ian

Varner mentioned he usually employs round 20 full-time staff. With amenities broken and river excursions halted till additional discover, his total crew has transitioned to part-time work, and he’s needed to get artistic to maintain them on payroll.

“So the month of October, a whole lot of our work was outdoors of the river excursions,” he mentioned.

“We do not have the amenities proper now. We do not have our bait and deal with store. We do not have our alligator displays open but. It is having to handle hours — and naturally — attempting to offer individuals as a lot work as we are able to.”

Varner negotiated with DeSoto County and different companions to contract odd jobs for his crew, like particles removing and upkeep on photo voltaic panel fields.

He mentioned the Florida Small Enterprise Emergency Bridge Mortgage Program, activated by Gov. Ron DeSantis to assist small companies get well, saved his enterprise afloat by means of October. He is additionally banking on a bodily catastrophe mortgage, distributed by the U.S. Small Enterprise Administration (SBA), to come back by means of.

Varner mentioned the prospect of rebuilding after a hurricane is made extra grim by the risky prices of supplies and labor because the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It is positively a giant concern,” he mentioned. “It is laborious to actually get a quantity down on what these prices are going to be as a result of all the pieces is continually fluctuating.”

In keeping with SBA knowledge, over $900 million in bodily catastrophe and financial damage loans have been authorised for small enterprise house owners recovering from Ian statewide. Enterprise house owners in counties from the better Tampa Bay area account for over $119 million in lending, with 114 recipients in DeSoto County at simply over $6 million in particular catastrophe loans.

“I do really feel like we’re resilient as an organization, and we have needed to overcome some pure disasters and pandemics earlier than,” Varner mentioned. “It’s positively is a problem for our staff — you go from being a well-oiled machine to coping with managed chaos.”

Gabriella Paul covers the tales of individuals residing paycheck to paycheck within the better Tampa Bay area for WUSF. She’s additionally a Report for America corps member. Right here’s how one can share your story along with her.