TARPON SPRINGS, Fla. — Tarpon Springs was hit hard by Hurricane Helene, but the city has been on the mend and most shops are now open for business.
Anyone walking through Tarpon Springs’ downtown will find that life has returned to normal for most businesses. However, it did take months to get to this point.
Nancy Williams is a purchasing manager for several stores, including Fatty’s Place and Tarpon Shell Shack. She says the destruction was immense from the storm surge during Hurricane Helene.
“Everything was flipped over, everything was floating. It was just a nightmare, but we pulled together and we had all hands on deck,” Williams said.
She says it took several weeks to fix up the shops.
“That was gutting, cleaning, new walls, new product, everything,” Williams said.
However, Williams says that foot traffic and sales are down, blaming the fact that many people don’t know that Tarpon Springs is open for business.
“A lot of people don’t know we are open yet, sites online are telling people that the Sponge Docks are a ghost down, that we’re not open, but we are,” Williams said.