St. Armands Circle business owners start seeing damages

SARASOTA, Fla. (WWSB) – Just a day after Hurricane Helene blew by the Suncoast, almost all of St. Armands Circle remained under water on Friday. The only people on or off in vehicles were essential personnel and a couple of military trucks.

That didn’t stop residents, business owners and curious eyes from making their way on foot to see damages. That included a chef from Café L’Europe.

“Put his waders on, he’s an avid fisherman and he waited early this morning before the sun rose just to go and check out the restaurant,” said Eleni Sokos, the Vice President of Oysters Rock Hospitality.

Sokos said her chef found a disgusting mixture of water inside of the café. One picture showed once white table clothes, now covered in muck and debris. Another picture Sokos shared, showed a similar scene in the kitchen and she said they easily had four feet of water inside.

“It’s jarring, I would say, to see places that you love looking so different from what you are used to. It’s also a little bit heartbreaking for us, personally, because we just, we literally just finished a renovation like two weeks ago,” said Sokos. Barbara Pugliese owns Just/Because on the other side of the circle. She explained pictures sent by neighbors showed a clear water line on the buildings from the storm surge. Pugliese also said some shops had their front windows blown out.

“I’m kind of sick to my stomach but I’m trying to be positive,” said Pugliese.

Pugliese said pictures showed her furniture flipped over, missing planters, and other damages.

“We could have been ok but like, you know, if your neighbor had their window blown out or they had like two feet of water in there, it’s just inevitable that you are getting some of that too,” said Pugliese.

Sokos said they are still waiting for conditions on the circle to get better so they can evaluate damages in person.

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