Business owners say Island will be better after Dolly

SOUTH PADRE ISLAND - While there are dire predictions for some small businesses, many business owners believe that the Island will be better after Hurricane Dolly than before the storm made landfall on July 23. Behind Dolly's destruction, they say, there is a silver lining.

"I believe the Island is going to look much better after we clean up and fix up," said Island City Attorney Paul Cunningham, who owns a majority interest in the Radisson Resort South Padre Island.

"Life gave us a lemon, so let's make the best lemonade around."

Dave Friedman, of Pirates Landing, was equally optimistic.

"My cup's half full," he said. Having survived the storm he is already thinking of rebuilding, replacing and cleaning up.

City Manager Dewey Cashwell agreed with both.

"I see a continued interest in building and investing in the Island," he said. "Investors know people are going to continue enjoying the Island."

Cashwell said he had heard of very little structural damage to major buildings on the Island.

"It's mostly carpets and wallboard - things that go back up very quickly," he said. "We've often been criticized for our strict building codes. But it's paid off. Nearly all our structures are still standing."

Cashwell said recovery will be faster than originally thought.

"The mayor led the way," he said. "We got the power on much more quickly than originally scheduled."

The next step is to make things better than they were before, Cashwell said.

"In the long run, the Island will be improved by all of this," he said.

He had no estimates on total damage. "But as far as city property goes," he said, "I think we're probably under $2 million. And $1.7 million of that is the Convention Centre."

Island officials were already thinking of expanding the convention center before Dolly.

Smaller businesses, however, may be in more trouble than the larger ones.

Alex Avalos, who operates a print shop, said the storm hit him hard.

He feels fortunate to have suffered little physical damage to his business and home. But he still lost money.

"I'm pretty heavy on paper supplies," he said. "I was expecting to do the printing for (the Texas International Fishing Tournament), and the cancellation of that has left me a couple of thousand dollars short in anticipated income."

He agreed with an estimate of $2 million lost in direct income for the area from the TIFT cancellation alone.

"I'm afraid some people will go out of business," he said. "Certainly we're all hit hard because the rest of summer is basically over. The storm has disrupted a lot of lives and plans."

Developer Clayton Brashear agreed the summer is basically over.

"Some of the smaller hotels will be open fairly quickly, and most of the restaurants are operating," he said. "But some small businesses won't make it."

But he added, "We make our adjustments and go on. This is only temporary."

He agreed with Cashwell that investors are still interested in the Island.

"I heard a guy in a bank up the Valley the day after the storm talking to his banker about buying one of the small hotels on the Island," he said.

Brashear thinks that three months from now Dolly will be a vague memory for many.

"Construction money is coming to town. People are going to be cleaning up and getting ready for Winter Texans," he said. "It won't offset the income lost (from a shortened summer season), but it will help some."

He said the beach looks better than it did before the storm, and expects a lot of locals to visit during the next few weeks.

"If this is our once-every-20-years storm, thank you, Lord," he said, indicating it could have been much worse.

Joe Castillo, of Joe's Oyster Bar and Restaurant in Port Isabel, said he had water inside his building, but that he had cleaned up and was open for business as of last Wednesday.

"Business is hurt for the rest of the summer," he said. "How bad depends on how many people do or don't come to the area."

He said his sales this year, before the storm hit, were at record highs. Construction and insurance money would help somewhat in offsetting the loss of business, he said, but "not by very much."

Melba Fassold, who operates Original Tours, thinks the area is "out of the ballgame" for at least the next two months.

"First it was the passport issue," she said. "Then the price of gasoline went out of sight. And now Dolly," Fassold said. "You know, this had started out as a very good year. Things had just begun to pick up, and now this...."

She scoffed at the idea that construction money might make up some of the difference.

"It won't be a drop in the bucket," she said.

Her business, she said, depends on hotels being in business.

"That's where we get our tour customers," she said. "No hotels, no busloads for Mexico."