St. Augustine business owners work to regain profit amid decreased foot traffic following Milton

ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. — When Hurricane Milton was approaching, many St. Augustine business owners were forced to close up shop. They’re now looking to get back to business with foot traffic up and tourists in town.

“We couldn’t even come down to check on the business because the street flooded,” Owner of St. Augie’s Amy Bulone said.

That was the common problem for business owners in St. Augustine with the winds and water Hurricane Milton brought.

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“We closed Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Today we re-open. We took the boards down. Thank God no damage and here we are,” Bulone said.

Action News Jax drove around St. Augustine, and we spotted plenty of people shopping and dining at St. Augustine’s stores and restaurants.

Restaurant owner Amy Bulone is eager to recover from Hurricane Milton and draw visitors back.

“It’s the holiday weekend. We’re hoping that it does get busy. We’re hoping that people do come out that they’ve been stuck in the house for three days. We’re open and come down to St. Augie’s Pizza,” Bulone said.

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In a show of solidarity and support for the community during this recovery phase, the City of St. Augustine will also suspend all parking fees at the Historic Downtown Parking Facility.

“We extended the free parking through the weekend to encourage our residents to come downtown to visit our businesses and enjoy Augustine in the aftermath of the storm. Make sure that his city parking so look at those City signs,” St Augustine communication Director Melissa Wissel said.

The S.t Augustine visitor center was closed at 1:00 pm Friday due to concerns about tidal flooding. Officials say it will be reopened on the weekend.

Business owners are optimistic that, with time and community support, foot traffic will return to pre-hurricane levels.

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