VENICE — Chris and Linda Johnson have lived in Venice their whole lives, and have ridden out a lot of hurricanes over the years — including Idalia a year ago and Debby, which was a tropical storm when it passed by Venice in early August.
Both storms did substantial damage to the South Jetty and Humphris Park, but Jetty Jack’s, the concession stand there that they’ve operated for nearly seven years, escaped essentially unscathed.
“The building stood strong during every storm but this one,” Chris said.
He said they were expecting the worst after Hurricane Ian in 2022, especially when they couldn’t even get on the island to inspect the building.
But when they went to the North Jetty to have a look across the inlet, it was OK.
So when Hurricane Helene was approaching, they took the usual precautions to protect it: took in the chairs and umbrellas, locked the doors, put the shutters down, with liners in place to shield the inside from rain.
But Helene wasn’t a usual hurricane.
They knew that after water got into their home on Lyons Bay, which had never happened before. They’d seen the water rise 3 or 4 feet, Chris said, but this time “the water kept rising.”
His car flooded a little, too.
Seeing what Helene’s storm surge did to Jetty Jack’s left them speechless, he said. Neither of them had ever experienced surge like that.
“It didn’t take an expert to look at it and know the building was done,” he said.
Assistant City Manager James Clinch confirmed that in a phone call with the Johnsons, telling them the building has been condemned and will be demolished, Chris said.
They’re hoping the city can find a way to let them inside before that happens, to see if any equipment or products can be salvaged, but they’re not optimistic.
Inside it looks like everything was run through a washing machine filled with saltwater, he said.
Under the terms of their lease, they own all the contents of Jetty Jack’s but the city owns the building and has the sole discretion to decide whether to restore it. It has no obligation to do so.
In fact, the lease states if the structure is no longer in a safe operating condition, the lease is terminated.
The Johnsons were obligated under the lease to get insurance but the coverage they needed — flood insurance — was unavailable because of Jetty Jack’s location.
They would like to go back into business in Humphris Park, perhaps with a food truck and mobile restrooms, Chris said. There haven’t been any discussions with the city about that, he said, because the park itself will need major repairs before it can reopen.
“It looks like a bomb went off,” he said.
There are areas that have a drop-off of several feet, Linda said.
The future depends on the game plan the city creates, Chris said.
To help while things get sorted out, daughter-in-law Marina Williams created a GoFundMe account at: gofund.me/d380dec2
As of Tuesday, 183 donors had contributed $17,635 toward a goal of $25,000.
Chris said he doesn’t like the thought of accepting help but has been buoyed by the reaction to the GoFundMe plea, and by comments on Jetty Jacks’ social media, where the Johnsons have shared numerous photos of the building.
“We are blown away with the outpouring support, kind messages, and donations from this incredible community as we figure out what’s next after losing our livelihood,” they posted on Facebook on Monday.
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