PALMETTO, Fla. — Hurricane Milton damaged a Manatee County restaurant that has been in business for nearly 50 years.
The Alvarez Mexican Restaurant on Eighth Avenue in Palmetto suffered wind and water damage from Milton.
Victoria Sarmiento said the restaurant means so much to her family. Her grandmother, Marie Alvarez, founded the restaurant in 1976.
"My grandmother, Marie Alvarez, and my grandfather, Antonio, they were from Texas, San Antonio area. They came over here in maybe the late 60s, early 70s and decided to open a restaurant and have been here ever since," said Victoria Sarmiento.
The hurricane ripped off a portion of the roof and caused water intrusion. Sarmiento guesses some of the restaurant's equipment has also been destroyed.
"Ceiling is gone, the roof is gone. We’ve got some face damage to the front of the restaurant. We’ve got some flooding inside," she said.
The restaurant's sign by the street was also destroyed. Still, Sarmiento is dedicated to starting over and is grateful for the community's support.
"Some of the community came out and checked on us, and if you need anything, we’re here for you, so it was really good to see that," said Sarmiento.
The Alvarez family is waiting for their insurance company to visit the restaurant and assess the damage.
The family started a GoFundMe page after the community asked how they may help.
"Devastating. I can’t say any more than than that and looking at my grandma just watching her. She’s 84 and just looking at her life, she’s poured all her time and energy here, It’s rough, It’s rough, but we’ll do the best that we can, try to get us back and running as soon as we are able to," said Sarmiento.
"Give us time, give us patience. We’ll be back and continue to pray for those that are also struggling, you know, we’ll be back. We’ll be back."
With thousands still without power in South Florida, TECO is continuing to work day and night on getting the lights back on. "We know how frustrating it is, how inconvenient it is not to have power, and so the team is really committed to the cause," says CEO Archie Collins.