OVIEDO, Fla. — As hurricane season gets underway, workers at an Oviedo business are doing everything they can to prevent devastation seen during last year's storms.

What You Need To Know

  • The Black Hammock in Oviedo is doing everything they can to prevent devastation seen during last year's storms

  • The impacts of the hurricane can still be felt today, with some rebuilding still taking place

  • Jayson Rivera, the general manager, says they are doing a survey of the area, making sure nothing can be blown into the building 

Jayson Rivera, general manager at The Black Hammock, says everything now seems like it’s back to normal and they want to keep it that way.

Water ran through much of their property due to Hurricane Ian in 2022, causing extensive damage.

“So, the water came up; it went all the way back to the restaurant building. We had about two feet of water in our restaurant,” Rivera said. 

Those impacts are still being felt today.

“The bar had a lot of water damage, so they ended up tearing it down, so we have a new bar that’s being built,” Rivera said.

And the community support never went unnoticed.

“Because of the GoFundMe page, we were able to build a brand-new bird cage,” Rivera said. 

As for what’s next, Rivera and his team are doing what they can to protect their property.

“We’re going to be coming through the whole area and clean everything up and just make sure that nothing is going to be being blown or anything like that if a big storm comes by. So, it’s just making sure everything’s secured,” Rivera said. 

Rivera says no matter what, he always held onto hope to get through the challenging times.