CEDAR KEY, Fla. — When it comes to preventing mold, Aimee Firestine has become sort of an expert.

“I found out that straight vinegar kills mold better than bleach,” said Firestine, the owner of the Faraway Inn in Cedar Key. “Bleach makes it look nice, but the mold spores go deeper in.”

This type of expertise is useful, but not something she wanted to utilize just a year after Hurricane Idalia.

What You Need To Know

  • Cleanup has begun in the Bay area following Hurricane Debby's landfall 

  • Faraway Inn in Cedar Key reopened many of its rooms this summer after Hurricane Idalia damaged them, only to see flood waters return a year later

  • Owner Aimee Firestine said she's frustrated she has to put in the work to recover the inn all over again, but also says she's thankful it wasn't as bad as Idalia

“We just redid all these new showers, but the last time, the tubs were standing straight up,” Firestine said. “So I guess we’re better than we were before.”

Last year, the inn dealt with a lot of damage from Idalia, not only destroying one of their buildings, but bringing in about 9 feet of storm surge, which led to months of work removing mold and other damage before finally reopening their gulf view rooms around Memorial Day.

Then, this weekend, Debby led them down a familiar path of concern.

“When I heard the storm surge is going to be higher, and I talked to the fire chief, I said, ‘Oh,’ and I got nervous,” said Firestine.

So, they got to work removing everything from the rooms facing the water, canceling some reservations for this past weekend to make sure there was minimal damage.

On Monday, Firestine said she couldn’t stop looking at her live camera of the inn.

“We weren’t sure when it was going to hit and how bad it would be,” she said.

With 2 feet of water making its way into those rooms, Firestine thinks only the baseboards will need to be removed and treated for potential mold.

She’s thankful it wasn’t as bad as Idalia, but still frustrated that a year later, she has to put in all this work all over again.

“You have moments where you’re depressed and you’re sad, and that’s OK,” she said. “But then you have to decide, are you going to let it hold you back or push it forward? And those are your options.”

Being a teacher for years before moving down to Florida from New Jersey, Firestine has learned that pushing forward is the only way she wants to live — after all, she still has guests coming this next weekend.

“We’re going to be open this weekend,” Firestine said. “We have no choice. So, either life holds you back or pushes you forward. We’re going forward.”