Businesses damaged by Hurricane Helene scramble to pick up pieces

Examining Helene's financial aftermath

Hurricane Helene expected to be one of the costliest storms in U.S. history 03:30

A 42-year-old restaurant may never reopen in the same location. An event space-owner is trying to cobble together income as he faces tens of thousands of dollars in repairs to his barn. A gallery continues to support local artists whose studios, inventory and tools have been wiped out.

These are but a few of the struggles business owners in cities across the southeastern U.S. must grapple with in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Helene. One of the most devastating hurricanes to pummel the U.S. in recent history, the storm has taken more than 160 lives according to the latest tally. An AccuWeather estimate pegs the economic toll of the hurricane at up to $160 billion. 

On a micro level, the damage can mean the overnight loss of one's life's work, with no clear path to recovery or reassurance that an impacted business will ever return to normal. 

"No one expected this"

David Hitterman, owner of the Frog Pond, a restaurant with locations in North Reddington Beach and St. Pete Beach on Florida's west coast, said he was caught off guard by the intensity of the hurricane. 

"No one expected this storm to be like this," he told CBS News. "It's unbelievable, we had hurricane shutters on the windows and they didn't do a damn bit of good."

Given the extent of the destruction to the Frog Pond's building, Hitterman's landlords of more than four decades aren't sure they want to invest in refurbishing the structure. 

David Hitterman, owner of the Frog Pond, doesn't expect to reopen the restaurant in the location it's been at for over four decades.  David Hitterman

"Our landlord wants to sell the building and we don't know what next steps will be," he said. 

As a result of Helene, the restaurant was flooded, and Frog Pond employees banded together to clean out the space. Hitterman said he withdrew funds from the business's money market account to pay workers for their last two weeks of work. 

The Frog Pond's hurricane shutters did little to insulate the establishment from damage, its owner said.  David Hitterman

"I feel sorry for our employees, it's not fair," Hitterman said. 

Contemplating how to move forward

While Hitterman has accepted that the Frog Pond's original iteration will likely cease to exist, he is committed to reopening the establishment in one form or another. 

"It's not clear if we'll reopen at any of our existing locations, but we are scouting around," he said. "We have been serving the community for quite a few years. Many generations have come through the door, and we've seen a lot of weddings, and a lot of funerals. We have a very good following and name," Hitterman said. 

From restaurants to arts establishments, few businesses in affected areas have been spared from destruction. 

Art after the storm

In Greenville, South Carolina, an art gallery that did not sustain major damage from the storm and is open for business, continues to devote itself to the local artists it represents, some of whom work out of studios in nearby Asheville in North Carolina, the state hit hardest by the storm. Catastrophic flooding in the state devastated several towns and killed dozens of people, with the North Carolina State Climate Office describing the storm as close to being a "worst-case scenario for western North Carolina." 

Art and Light Gallery director Bracken Sansbury told CBS News that three out of four of the Asheville-based artists it represents "completely lost their studios," which means all of their works-in-progress, tools and other inventory were wiped out by the storm. 

Asheville-based painter Jeremy Russell was able to deliver a 20-piece collection of paintings to the gallery hours before the storm hit, Sansbury said. 

"We installed the show Monday, it's live and active, and we want to sell it out to help him get back on his feet," she said. 

Uncertainty, amid damage and repairs

By contrast, Bucks Sport's Barn, a kids party venue and event space in Atlanta, will be closed for the foreseeable future. Owner Paul Rodgers estimates he's facing roughly $10,000 worth or repairs, including the replacement of the venue's walls, before he can consider reopening in any capacity.

In a typical year, Bucks hosts about 400 kids parties, or around 30-plus per month. In the aftermath of Helene, Rodgers doesn't anticipate hosting any events in the month of October; his only source of income will be from selling $25 tickets to a haunted house experience hosted in a separate building unscathed by the hurricane.

"It's both kid-friendly and adult scary. You come through the door and say, on a scale from one to 10, how scared you want to be." he said. "We plan to open this Saturday."