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Hurricane Idalia: Restaurant owner Jordan Keeton suffers 'big loss' due to catastrophic storm

Jordan Keeton said that this was not the first time that a hurricane had brought about so much destruction in Florida

CEDAR KEY, FLORIDA: Jordan Keeton, who owns 83 West which is the largest restaurant in Cedar Key, Florida, spoke candidly about how Hurricane Idalia reduced his establishment to nothing.

Keeton is reportedly OK, but the catastrophic storm caused him to suffer a "big loss," as per NBC News.

According to reports, Idalia battered Florida's Gulf coast with winds of speeds up to 125mph and torrential rain on Wednesday, August 30, before moving up the coast to Georgia and the Carolinas.

How did Florida restaurant owner describe Hurricane Idalia? 

Hurricane Idalia caused significant damage to Keeton's restaurant and community. The restaurant owner detailed what he saw and the storm's effects on his building.

"I haven't been able to access the damage yet on my restaurant. We're still waiting on the bridge to get let on," Keeton explained to NBC News. 

He continued, "They are doing some assessments to make sure that the bridge is safe to drive on. SOS is working currently on that. We are just kind of waiting for that moment. We are hoping it's not too bad."

"From what I have seen it looks like the deck of my building is gone," he added. 

Hurricane Idalia caused Jordan Keeton a big loss

Keeton added that this was not the first time that a hurricane had caused so much destruction. "It's definitely a big loss for us," he said.

Keeton also associated the oncoming storm with previous ones, such as Hurricane Hermine in 2016 and Hurricane Elsa in 2021.

He had spent a day preparing his establishment in an effort to mitigate some of the harm caused by Hermine's significant storm surge.

"The electronics that are going to be hard to move, we’re trying to keep those from splashes and being hit by too much water," Keeton recalled.

He added, "All of the dry wall was taken out, everything was replaced with Durock, so everything was made to get wet."

At this point, Keeton could only pray that everything was still there when he returned.

Keeton said, "We’re taking it seriously. Hermine did a lot of damage and that was just a Category 1 storm," per WFLA.