In October, an EF-2 tornado tore through Citrus County. That happened just six weeks after Hurricane Idalia left a large portion of the coastal region under water.
CRYSTAL RIVER, Fla. — In October 2023, Citrus County was ripped apart by an EF-2 tornado. That happened just six weeks after Hurricane Idalia flooded hundreds of homes and businesses in the community.
Now, businesses are finally reopening after a second round of rebuilding.
Less than three months ago, up and down US-19, powerlines were downed, roofs were ripped off businesses and homes, cars were overturned, and debris made roads impassable.
An area that was hit hard by the tornado was just off 19, a strip of businesses were torn apart.
"The tornado came ripping through here and ripped off the roof ripped off the front, the sign in sign out by the highway and just totally demolished everything we had to replace virtually the whole the whole outside of the building," Ryan DeLarco, the owner of Sparky's Green Rides said.
This destruction came just two weeks after DeLarco reopened his bicycle shop. He had three feet of floodwater damage in his business following Idalia. His renovations were complete just in time to be ruined again.
"It's just incredible what Mother Nature can come through and do out of nowhere," DeLarco said.
The tornado ripped his business's roof off, stripped the electric work, and forced him to start from scratch, again.
"[The] building is so old, you can't really get good insurance to cover anything," DeLarco said. He spent $50,000 on repairs. His business neighbors are still in recovery.
Since the tornado did not qualify to declare a state of emergency, no state or federal dollars were made available.
"We actually worked together with the county Citrus County, [they] came in with probably three or four crews for their trucks to help pick up all the trees and the debris and hauled out truckload after truckload of debris from trees and homes and things of that nature," Doug Baber, the Crystal River city manager explained.
Hit after hit, Crystal River businesses know how to rebuild. The city helped where it could.
"Our city staff helped him with the permit process as we went through to ensure that he was able to open as quickly as he wanted to open," Baber shared.
For those, like DeLarco, who have been through this a few times now, they know it's not a job that's done alone.
"Everybody came in and wanted to do anything they could to help," DeLarco said. "And it was just really good to see the community come out and try to do anything possible."
The city of Crystal River is asking for one-time funding from the state legislature this year to help rebuild city buildings lost to last year's storms. The city manager said they're asking for $10 million, a portion of which would go towards rebuilding city hall.
Malique Rankin is a general assignment reporter with 10 Tampa Bay. You can email her story ideas at and follow her Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram pages.
