ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Brian Higueros and his crew with St. Pete plumbing have been going non-stop the last few months.
"It's been kind of a ride. It's been kind of a crazy one. But we are all getting through it together,” Higueros said.
Plumbing is one of the trades in demand as people try and restore their homes hit by hurricane damage.
“All hands on deck pretty much. There's drywallers, electricians, framers. There’s demo guys that come in,” said Higueros.
All the first-floor units in this Shore Acres condo complex were flooded, that's 65 units needing to be fixed.
"It's a time crunch thing trying to get everybody back as quickly as we can,” Higueros said.
Wade Swikle owns 2 College Brothers Moving, and he said his business has had its ups and downs since the hurricanes.
"Right after the hurricane, for about two months we were really busy picking up people's furniture and bringing it into storage, and now that that stuff is in storage, we probably aren't going to get busy until it's time to move out of storage,” said Swikle.
Others, including real estate-based businesses, have had more difficulty following the storms. Nearly 2,000 businesses in Pinellas and Hillsborough counties reported damage.
Swikle said they are things that can be done to get through these tough times.
He started a networking group called Hometown Titan with the goal of businesses helping each other.
"If you've given something to somebody else like giving them an opportunity for exposure or helping them grow, sending them referrals, then they'll be inclined to give them back to you,” Swikle said.
For more information on Hometown Titan visit their website.
“I didn't see anything"
Nine-year-old Leah Lendel and her family were enjoying a day at the beach in Boca Grande when a shark bit her hand. Over a week later, she appeared at a press conference with her family at Tampa General Hospital to give an update on her recovery.
