Manasota Key business reacts to partial reopening after Hurricane Milton

Reporter: Ashley French
Published: Updated:

Charlotte County reopened the north end of Manasota Key on Saturday at 4 p.m. following safety concerns caused by Hurricane Milton.

People and businesses were allowed to return to Manasota Key for the first time after Hurricane Milton.

Residents were relieved and devasted at the same time after seeing some of the destruction left on the island by Milton. Rebuilding will take longer for some people than others.

People waited anxiously in line in their cars to cross the Manasota Beach Road Bridge to return to the north end of Manasota Key.

Don Lord is a Sandpiper Key resident. He said that he was happy to be returning.

“I’m very excited,” said Lord. “After being delayed probably two days. Thank God. We’re getting back.”

That’s a sign of relief for people seeing some light at the end of the tunnel as they return to the barrier island.

Homes and businesses were salvaged, while others were not so much.

Leonardo Cepero is an employee at the Sunset Point Marina and Resort. He is sad about Milton’s devastation.

“It’s truly devastating,” said Cepero. “It hurts to see something that we’ve worked so hard for and we’ve made so many memories here just pretty much be destroyed in a night.”

Cepero said the damage left over from Milton was worse than that of Ian.

“Ian is nothing compared to this,” said Cepero. “We had 14 boats at this marina, none of them are really salvageable at this point. Some of them ended up here tore down. The whole entire first floor is fully damaged. We had a full boat rental business over here that is fully broken.
It’s going to take us a while to build back, and we’ll definitely be closed for a little bit.”

Cepero said that while the damage is extensive, so is community support.

“We have so much help and so much support from everyone else that it really just motivates you to just keep pushing forward and build back better,” said Cepero. “Rather see this as an opportunity to grow, rather than just give up.”

For the time being, the island is under a curfew from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. as clean-up crews continue their efforts.

For more information on the Sunset Point Marina and Resort, go to their Facebook page.

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