BROWARD COUNTY, Fla. – Businesses and homeowners in Broward are seeking financial assistance after a historic flood caused irreplaceable damage nearly two weeks ago.
Local 10 News spoke with business owners at the Swap Shop in Sunrise on Tuesday who said they returned to work to find extensive water damage from the excessive flooding.
“We checked our stores and all our stores were flooded,” said one business owner. “We were panicking. After everything dried out, we started repairing our stores.”
Storage units in the area were full of muck and mold growing on some inventory.
Some tried airing personal belongings once the water left.
Most vendors declined an interview, trying to keep the peace with management, but said the uneven ground created big ‘pools’ of water.
For now, all they can do is clean up and take the hit.
“You gotta rebuild. You gotta dry out stuff and just go on the next day. We’re asking the federal government for help but we’re waiting to see what the government does with that,” a business owner said.
Across Broward, more businesses are just trying to bounce back like the historic old Heidelberg off State Road 84 in the heart of Fort Lauderdale.
The landmark German restaurant, a labor of love for Yvonne Liebe, was saturated and soaked.
‘I couldn’t handle it. Honest answer,” said Liebe. “I couldn’t handle it. It was just too much of a shock how bad it was.”
Employees say all the wood had to go and the walls and furniture were refurbished.
The owners closed for 10 days to get it done within hours of the flooding.
Many businesses in Broward are in a holding pattern right now waiting for insurance to kick in even federal assistance.
Last week, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis activated the Florida Small Business Emergency Bridge Loan Program, making $5 million available for businesses impacted by flooding in Southeast Florida.
For more information on how Florida’s small business owners can apply for the loan program, click here.