Citrus County businesses dealing with aftermath of Debby

CRYSTAL RIVER, Fla. - Floodwaters in Citrus County are receding after deputies had to block off parts of US-19 and the streets that ordinarily bring business owners and tourists to the shore of Crystal River.

"I’m hoping we don’t have a lake in our driveway for sure," said Cecilia Whitney, who lives near the intersection of US-19 and Three Sisters Springs Trail.

She’s one of around 3,400 people who were without power on Monday, after hours of rain left key streets headed to Crystal River flooded out.

On a normal Monday, Tom Corbett would be teaching music lessons.

"It’s not that tough to lose a day [of business]," he said. "I just hope every one of my students is safe. I’ll be operational tomorrow, I hope."

READ: Travel impacted by Debby as deadly storm forces thousands of flight cancellations, delays

Ironically enough, the flooding did take a bigger bite out of businesses that rely on the water.

With the beach bars and piers underwater, guides like Vickie Hall of River Ventures may lose three days of business thanks to Debby’s downpours on Route 19.

"We all know we are not in this for the money, it’s for the love of the manatees," said Hall. "We just hope they are staying safe and hunkered down out there, and we are not going to get a lot of nasty debris and oil and stuff like we did last year."

This storm brought back memories of Hurricane Idalia, which ravaged homes and businesses in Citrus County in August of 2023, though residents are thankful that the initial impact from Debby isn’t as bad.

Getting back to normal around Crystal River may well depend on the tides and how they impact the water that was dropped by Debby.

"We still have another hour of the tide coming in so we will see what happens at high tide, so hopefully when it goes out, it all goes out," said Chris Bentley of River Ventures.

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