I finally got through to Tony this afternoon and was relieved to hear his voice. His restaurant was a total loss. The roof caved in, the poles that held up the roof snapped off like match sticks and the concrete walls caved in. He was able to salvage some of the restaurant equipment, at least one freezer and a few other things, but overall, the place is gone.
Tony's home was spared, he has enough food and water to last about 4 to 5 more days, and the electrical power is still out and probably will be for quite some time. His home had some water damage, but he said it was not that bad.
He says he's going to rebuild the restaurant, and currently trying to dig up financing. The place was not insured, and he said the reason it was not was the cost of hurricane insurance there would equal the cost of the entire building with just a couple years of premiums. He estimates the cost of rebuilding at about $60,000 and says he's currently working on trying to obtain financing.
When I told him that we were all worried about him and wanted to send some cash in his direction to keep him afloat, he was very grateful. However, do not send checks directly to him because the way things are going he will never receive them. His bank is located in Dallas, Texas and when I talk with him tomorrow he will provide me with information for the transfer of funds directly to his account.
He said he really misses everyone here and hopes to be back on line in a couple weeks if the electricty is restored. I offered to fly down and help him with the clean-up and he said the airport just opened today, and while he really appreciated the offer, there is very little anyone can do at this point. Additionally, there would be no place to stay, no food, no water, no electricity, and he felt fortunate to have telephone service.
I'll update the post in the next few days.
Cheers,
Gary
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Travlin' Easy
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