Crystal River overtaken by flood waters Friday

CRYSTAL RIVER (FOX 13) - Parts of Crystal River remained underwater throughout much of the day Friday after Hurricane Hermine caused major flooding for several hours.

The flooding forced crews to close off sections U.S. 19 until just after noon. Some of the roads near Kings Bay were under several feet of water until the late morning.

Some homeowners didn't know how they would recover.

"We don't have a whole lot here. We don't what we're going to go back to find," said Roger King, who just moved to Crystal River. "What we brought with us and what we brought to stay down here and live for a while, it might be gone."

Water reached into the historic downtown area along Citrus Avenue, flooding out dozens of businesses.

"This will set me back years in the stuff I was trying to accomplish," said William Ayers, who owns R & D Awards and Apparel, a business located in a storefront that's been in his family since 1965. "It's a lot of money invested because I'm one of those live-by-the-week, by-the-paycheck people and it's taken me years to collect this stuff, [and get] a small savings so I can get my bills paid at the same time."

Long-time Crystal River residents and businesses owners all seemed to compare Hermine to the No Name Storm in 1993.

"That was in March of 1993," said Jeff Williams, pointing to a newspaper article that he keeps posted on the wall of his business, J & J Automotive on U.S. 19. "That flood came in here real fast and it left real fast. This is kind of lingering around a little bit."

WATCH: Crystal River businesses recovering from floods

Williams and other businesses owners on U.S. 19 had about two-feet of water inside the building, but the more fortunate ones are staying positive.

"A lot of people have a lot more to worry about than we do, so our concerns are with them people that need it," Williams said.

"We're all healthy and nobody got hurt and the building is still standing," added William Bunch, who owns Oysters Restaurant, which also took on about two feet of water. "I think we're ready to go."