HERNANDO BEACH, Fla. — Brian Alvarez wasn't sure he'd be able to open his Hernando Beach restaurant, Brian's Place, on Thursday.
That's because as of 10 a.m. on Wednesday, the business's back patio looked more like a pool due to flooding from Hurricane Idalia.
"The water was over our fence into our back patio," he said.
Alvarez said he got one last peak at the damage via security cameras at that time. But after the power went out, he was left to imagine the worst possible outcome.
"I thought, 'Was life going to be different as I know it?' [while] making the trip to the restaurant," he said.
When he arrived, he was greeted with a damaged sign, a waterlogged front yard, and a flooded patio.
"We got to see the water line came two inches from the top of the last stair," he said.
But it's a mess he's calling a "blessing" because some businesses on Shoal Line Boulevard had it worse.
"My neighbor that is just twenty feet to the north of me got a foot and a half of water in his building," he said.
Though he chalks up a dry interior to "luck," he says opening back up for business Thursday was born out of an act of love from his community—who helped him clean up.
And it's love that he hopes others will shower on our state's hardest-hit communities and their local economies as they work to bounce back from the storm.
"Support that local restaurant that's in the kitchen grinding every day," he said.
