FORT MYERS, Fla. — Some Fort Myers businesses cleaned up over the weekend, after Hurricane Helene brought in lots of flooding.
Water was so high it took over the streets of downtown Fort Myers.
Both FOX 4'S Austin Shargorodski and Miyoshi Price and were covering Helene's impacts around the clock Thursday into Friday, and saw some businesses take in water.
"We learned a lot from Hurricane Ian, so we prepared with flood precautions, which I'm glad we did, because we ended up getting probably 12 to 14 inches of water outside," says Kevin Offerman, the owner of City Tavern.
Offerman, says they took in six inches of water in low areas inside. He says as storms approach, businesses should take it seriously and get prepared.
"Keep doing more and more flood precautions, impact resistant windows and doors and flood tape, caulking things like that" says Offerman.
Some businesses put up sandbags and flood tape with hopes that those re-enforcements would support their businesses as the streets of downtown began to flood.
Some owners say they feel like it did help.
Offerman says he does not like comparing any storms to Ian, but says Helene was a fraction of what he experienced.
"Which is great and very grateful for that," says Offerman. "It was a lot more horrible to people further north, and we hope they get all the help they need."
City Tavern and many businesses downtown were able to clean up and open over the weekend, but a few businesses downtown are still closed or even delayed renovations.
