SARASOTA, Fla. — Affected business owners are trying to figure out how to pick up the pieces after an EF-1 tornado touched down in a part of downtown Sarasota.
The rebuilding process started right away Thursday morning with different teams that included contractors, surveyors, and insurance agents — all of which were on-site to assess the damage. Power crews were back out trying to repair power lines and poles and restore electricity to other commercial properties on the street.
However, there were concerns raised that other factors like demand and supply could make the process take longer.
"The problem is right now is there's a supply shortage for roofing so hopefully we can come up with something," said Troy Alvis, of Alvis Industries.
Alvis, his brothers, nephews, and other co-workers were inside the building on 10th St. when the tornado came through Wednesday. It happened around 2.15 pm.
"It sounded like a bomb went off and the whole roof went up 15 feet and came crashing down to the floor," Alvis said.
Fortunately, no one was hurt but business has stalled until the building has been cleaned up and fitted with a new roof.
"I figure it'll probably be about a month and we will be back, but we have to just make it safe and will be in there working with no roof if we have to," said Alvis. The City of Sarasota has given a nod for contractors and engineers to gain access into the building to do the preliminary work securing it and to start putting damage and repair estimates together.
"The team of engineers is going to direct us and see what we need to do but the basics right now, is how much and how long," Dan Lane, president of Markley Constructions.
Lane’s company has been contracted by Alvis to help them affect repairs and restore their building.
As the contractor, figuring out the timeline would be a challenge for Lane due to the ongoing supply chain issues.
"One, from the manufacturing standpoint to just the gross overall building that is happening where supplies are needed there," said Lane.
For now though, as the folks at Alvis industries look on, and clean up the damage, they are counting their blessings with the understanding that the situation could have been a different story.
"We are alive to go on another day, so we're good, we should be OK. It's just material stuff, it could've been worse, it could be like the war in Ukraine or something like that going on," Alvis said.
The contractor has asked that anyone with leftover building and roofing materials reach out so they can help get the business back open as soon as possible.
