Profits lost in the storm

Dakin Dairy Farms was just one of the East County businesses that saw its profits go down the drain during Hurricane Irma.

Irma’s winds took out Florida Power & Light Co. power lines at the Myakka City dairy and put the farm’s production down for 16 hours.

Unfortunately, even when Dakin Dairy’s power returned and it could get the milk ready for the market, it had no place to send it. Many of Dakin’s customers were shut down due to Irma or from not receiving products.

So Dakin had to pour 75,000 gallons of milk down the drain between Sept. 11 and Sept. 15. The average retail price of that milk was $2.99 a gallon.

Cows must continue to be milked on a regular schedule, so Dakin couldn’t stop working.

“It’s hard seeing all that labor and resources going down the drain,” said Dakin Dairy Plant Manager Tony Wahl. “The 75,000 gallons of milk that went down, there is no way to get that back.”

Of the many businesses in Manatee County to have suffered hardships due to Hurricane Irma, Dakin Dairy has suffered as much as any of them. Fortunately, the dairy said it will have no layoffs of employees.

“It is a very anxiety-ridden, humbling process because there is nothing I can do, or anyone can do, about it,” Wahl said.

Wahl said the dairy expected to lose revenue due to the storm, but not 75,000 gallons’ worth.

“We did not expect to be dumping milk for this long,” Wahl said. “This has never happened at this facility. We just have to keep pumping, keep bottling and eventually we’ll catch up.”

Dakin wasn’t alone in suffering a financial business hardship.

Nate’s Honor Animal Rescue in Lakewood Ranch had a smaller financial hit from Irma than Dakin Dairy, but a loss of more than $5,000 in facility repairs will be tough for the nonprofit to overcome. Although Nate’s is filing insurance claims, it doesn’t expect to recoup the amount of the damages.

A portion of the shelter’s barn roof came off and will cost more than $2,500 to repair. The barn is used to examine new animals. Nate’s is using a tarp to cover the damaged portion of the roof until it can fund the repair.

Nate’s volunteer Howard Duff said insulation packed into the barn’s roof prevented further damage.

Some solar panels also blew down at the facility, and all of the animal enclosures were damaged.

The shelter lost all its vaccines, which spoiled after the refrigeration system went down due to a loss of power. Nate’s also lost office supplies after the front office flooded with 5 inches of water.  

Nate’s kennels flooded July 31 from downpours associated with Tropical Storm Emily, and forced the temporary relocation of about 70 animals into foster care.

“We just have to keep going,” said Dari Oglesby, executive director of the shelter. “We had no clue what to expect. We are just grateful it wasn’t worse.”

Nate’s sent 60 of its animals to a shelter in Ohio as a safety precaution, and those animals will not return.

“We had paid for medical tests, treatments and microchips for all of those animals, but we had to send them off,” Oglesby said.

Nate’s is now refilling its shelter, adding 71 animals from Hardee, Manatee, Hendry, Miami-Dade and DeSoto counties.

“We have animals coming from all over Florida,” Oglesby said. “They are coming from shelters that weren’t as fortunate as we were and which are still flooded with no electricity.”

Flooding and fallen trees also caused problems for Mark Stukey, owner of Ray’s Canoe Hideaway, at 1289 Hagle Park Road, on the Manatee River. His business is closed indefinitely, although he hopes to reopen in October.

“This is always a good time of the year for us,” Stukey said. “The temperature starts dropping a bit and people are always wanting to do something.”

He has dealt with flooding before, the first time in 2003. Now he is handling Irma.

“I’ve lived here for 38 years,” the 63-year-old Stukey said. “You just have to deal with what gets thrown at you every now and then.”

Buckaroo Roadhouse on State Road 64 is recovering from Irma.

Flooding and a backup of sewage damaged floors and walls and caused electrical problems. The business was closed until Sept. 14. 

Despite suffering economic losses, owner Misty Elsenheimer said she has been inspired because many of her neighbors and customers have stopped to ask if they could help.

“We got lucky,” Elsenheimer said. “I’m not going to complain too bad because the people south of us got hit a lot worse, and our building is still standing.”