CRYSTAL RIVER, Fla. — In Citrus County this weekend, many will continue cleaning up after a tornado tore through town early Thursday morning.
That includes the owner of a local hair salon, Amanda Cochran.
"Everything that I've put into it is gone," Cochran said. "So that definitely, definitely hurts. It definitely hurts."
Cochran said "Authentically You Salon" has been her world since she opened the business three years ago.
"I'm here full time. I basically feel like I live here," she said. "I've put my entire livelihood into it."
The business she worked tirelessly to build was reduced to its bare bones on Friday, with much of the roof gone and furniture destroyed.
"I'm pretty sure we took a direct hit," Cochran said. "The window busted and the roof basically has been ripped off. There's lots of exposure and then it continued to rain all day."
Seeing the business as it stands now is still difficult for her.
"It's everything. It's my home. I'm very proud of my space and I am very proud to offer a safe place for other people," Cochran said.
Concerned first and foremost about her clients, she'll continue to work out of a different space starting next week, until she can rebuild.
"I'm really close with all my clients. I consider them friends and family," she said.
It's loyalty her clients are already reciprocating.
"I've had so many people reach out — so many! Like, I'm just so shocked. I had so many people help and offer hands. And it's it's a lot, a lot of emotions," Cochran added.
Across the street, the Crystal River Kayak Company and Dive Center is also starting over.
"For the most part we've taken a complete loss," shop manager Don Markham said. "About 70% of our kayaks are busted up so we're going to have to replace our entire fleet of kayaks and the building is a complete loss. It will have to be torn down and we will have to rebuild."
The two businesses are being buoyed tonight by the Crystal River community.
"The overwhelming support from the community has been keeping us charged up," Markham said.
If you would like to support Amanda as she works to rebuild her salon, you can donate to a GoFundMe page by clicking here.