Citrus County business owners left picking up pieces in Hurricane Idalia aftermath

OZELLO, Fla. - Home and business owners in Citrus County began dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane Idalia Thursday, expecting the recovery to last days – potentially weeks.

People in Ozello, a community on the western edge of Citrus, experienced some of the worst damage due to storm surge that sent several feet of water into neighborhoods.

"It's never crossed my mind that it would ever happen. Part of the reason why I'm, I think I'm still kind of in that shocked mode and stunned mode, I just never truly thought it would happen here," said Gary Martell, Jr., who owns Ozello Keys Marina. "We've had small storms, we've had small floods on a normal full moon, high tide. We get water that comes over the trail. That's typical. But this much water, I really never thought would happen."

READ: Manasota Key Road devastated by Hurricane Idalia storm surge

Martell's business, which he and his family spent four and a half years building, had about four feet of water inside it. He wonders how much he'sll be able to salvage.

"Everything, every single one of our contents inside the store and the garage is gone. Tools, welders, merchandise," said Martell, whose business includes retail, along with air boart and fishing charter tours. "The water was just coming through here like this was open water. There were whitecaps inside of this building."

Martell said he was told power could be out for up to two weeks, although he was hopeful it would happen sooner.

Ozello Keys Marina's air boat and charter boat survived the storm. Martell is urging people to support his community and others that suffered similar damage by continuing to hire them for tours.

"Anything we can do to get these guys back working again, which they depend on, these charters. The Gulf of Mexico is still open, the waterways are still open. Everything is back to normal out there," said Martell.