Description
In October 2023, Citrus County was ripped apart by an EF-2 tornado. That happened just six weeks after Hurricane Idalia flooded hundreds of homes and businesses in the community.
Now, businesses are finally reopening after a second round of rebuilding.
Less than three months ago, up and down US-19, powerlines were downed, roofs were ripped off businesses and homes, cars were overturned, and debris made roads impassable.
An area that was hit hard by the tornado was just off 19, a strip of businesses were torn apart.
"The tornado came ripping through here and ripped off the roof ripped off the front, the sign in sign out by the highway and just totally demolished everything we had to replace virtually the whole the whole outside of the building," Ryan DeLarco, the owner of Sparky's Green Rides said.
This destruction came just two weeks after DeLarco reopened his bicycle shop. He had three feet of floodwater damage in his business following Idalia. His renovations were complete just in time to be ruined again.
"It's just incredible what Mother Nature can come through and do out of nowhere," DeLarco said.
The tornado ripped his business's roof off, stripped the electric work, and forced him to start from scratch, again.
MORE: https://www.wtsp.com/article/weather/crystal-river-business-tornado/67-efbc4a7c-5884-465b-9570-a00ac7ba5f11
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