ST. ARMANDS, Fla. — When I arrived in St. Armands, Sarasota County, I saw tons of garbage piling up in front of several stores. Several businesses here suffered severe damage during Hurricane Helene.
“Like everything got destroyed, we lost everything,” said Lorenzo Gallo. Lorenzo and Rochelle Gallo own Rochelle’s Boutiques in St. Armands Circle and like several other businesses here, they lost all of their inventory from the flooding caused by Hurricane Helene. “It’s sad because – the insurance – you would think the insurance would be there to help you, but, like, they don’t describe everything in detail,” said Lorenzo. Lorenzo told me their flood insurance only covers floods due to a burst pipe, not a natural disaster.
The flooding on the street shattered their storefront windows. “The assumption is the pressure pushed on it, popped the beam out and then it took the glass with it and then it just flooded. I mean, we have a table in there – probably like 400, 500 lbs – and we found it in the back room,” said Lorenzo. Lorenzo showed me the inside of their, now, damaged store. “You can see the waterline too, like, you’re talking like three feet of water. You know, it’s crazy,” said Lorenzo.
“We moved down here like two years ago and I’ve just always dreamed of opening a store in St. Armands Circle,” said Rochelle, but she never imagined that flooding from a hurricane would destroy her dream boutique just two years after opening. “The wood is only about three or four inches off the ground. So, when cars were driving by, just waves were being created and it just continued to come in this store,” said Rochelle.
While I was there, Rochelle was working with an insurance adjuster to determine the next steps. She said she probably lost about $150,000 in inventory, but she’s thankful because she plans on building bigger and better, while other stores in the community won’t be able to build back at all.
Brides, families fighting for refunds after event venue closes suddenly
“We’ve struggled so hard to scrape the money to be able to do this for her,” Irizarry said. “She’s my only girl and I wanted this so much for her.”
Couples and families who had weddings and events planned at a well-known venue that abruptly closed claim they’re out thousands of dollars and aren’t being given refunds. Annette Irizarry was supposed to hold her 15-year-old daughter’s quinceañera in August at the Clearwater location and said she’s now out the $6,160 she paid. Without that money, Irizarry said she can’t afford to have her daughter’s celebration somewhere else.
