CEDAR KEY, Fla. — Peter Stefani and his wife, Gina, have been running Cedar Cove Hotel for more than 30 years.
It’s become known as a staple in the community.
Stefani now has months of work ahead of him, after Hurricane Idalia washed out the Island Room Restaurant on the first floor. Everything has to be replaced, Stefani said, except for the bar that is still standing.
“You can’t prepare for something like this,” he said. “I mean, we did all we could. We boarded up and taped up and did all the stuff we’re supposed to do. But, Mother Nature is going to do what it wants to do.”
Our Spectrum News team first met Stefani the day before Idalia made landfall in the Big Bend region. Two days later, Stefani returned to a much different scene – windows shattered, bottles of wine floating in the Gulf and the feeling that he had been in this position before.
In August 2016, Cedar Cove was completely taken out by Hurricane Hermine. It took Stefani a year and a half to reopen.
“It’s ironic that they’re almost on the same date,” Stefani said. “There’s a certain amount of resiliency and there’s a lot of people that are ready to leave and get the heck out of here and I don’t blame them. I’m not making that choice. We have to get back and running, we can’t just leave.”
When Stefani rebuilt after Hermine, he added features – like cement flooring and stronger walls – to help withstand storms. He believes those improvements helped protect the hotel from even more damage during Idalia.
This time around, Stefani expects it could take up to six months to rebuild. But his biggest concern right now is his employees and how he’s going to keep paying them.
“It’s just sad,” Stefani said. “I’m going to be OK because I’ve got to keep working and doing this. But it affects more than just me, it affects a lot of people.”
Even in a difficult time, Stefani describes himself as a positive person. That mindset, in addition to the community’s support, is what pulled him through rebuilding the first time – and he said it will get him through this, too.
“It just has to be done, we just have to get back,” Stefani said. “There’s a lot of people that are supporting us. There’s a couple that just left – they’re flooded but they wanted to come see how we did because they eat here on a weekly basis and they like my staff. It’s just a whole community thing.”
Stefani’s family has started a GoFundMe to help support staff and build their business back.