Downtown Fort Myers businesses prepare for Hurricane Milton

Business owners in downtown Fort Myers are feeling the same way: hope for the best, prepare for the worst.

People like Cal and Genevieve Bruno, the owners of Bruno’s of Brooklyn Italian Eatery, were getting their new location on First Street ready for whatever Hurricane Milton has in store.

“Helene caught us I think everyone off guard with it being 200 miles away,” Genevieve said. “But with this we’re over preparing.”

They’ve owned the restaurant for over 10 years. When Helene came through, they saw water come into the new location. So that’s a priority for this storm.

“The building is still under renovation so thankfully we have a great team here still implemented and mobilize,” Cal explained. “You know brand new store front and what not but water is fickle. It’ll find its way in. So we’re flex taping the crevices stuff like that. Trying to keep out as much as we can.”

This will be the second storm Taco Works has to face since opening their location in downtown Fort Myers in March.

“We’re dealing with employees make sure their safe, their families are safe partners are safe and of course business is secondary,” Taco Works owner Ozzie Morrobel said. “So we’re praying just like everyone else.”

When asked how everyone was feeling downtown, Morrobel responded “it’s been really stressful. Especially here in the downtown area but all the areas. I mean it’s been a slow season especially for restaurants and people are already struggling as it is. Now tack this things on top of it I mean it’s not a good thing. I hope that everybody’s okay and we’ll get spared from this storm and everybody else and everybody in Florida. After I hope people support local because we need it we need it bad.”