Chuck Hammers, the small business owner behind the Pizza My Heart Inc. chain, was taking stock of the destruction before him.
The use of platforms like GoFundMe is just one of several ways that merchants are navigating how to raise the funds necessary to rebuild after winter storms ripped through parts of the Bay Area, damaging numerous businesses in their wake. For many, community outreach and government aid will also be crucial for the financial path forward, and others are considering taking on flood insurance to prepare for the future.
"It’s expensive to get flood insurance in a floodplain, so almost nobody has flood insurance," said Lantis, who says he's sustained about $5,000 in damage to furniture, $25,000 in equipment damage, and thousands more in lost food inventory due to the string of winter storms that drenched the area through mid-January.
There are two types, or levels, of flood insurance, according to Palmer, who is Hammer's insurance broker and the main contact for several other Capitola businesses. FEMA aid for businesses includes disaster assistance and economic injury disaster loans with interest rates that range between 3.305% and 6.610%.