Tropical Storm Debby brings heavy rain, wind to Florida, Southeast auto dealers

Automobile dealers in Florida are starting to assess business disruptions and impacts from Tropical Storm Debby, which swept into the region early Aug. 5.

The storm made landfall as a Category 1 hurricane around 7 a.m. Eastern time near Steinhatchee, Fla., a Gulf Coast town roughly 170 miles north-northwest of Tampa. It weakened inland to a tropical storm but is expected to bring heavy rain, gusty winds and flooding to southeast Georgia and southern South Carolina through Wednesday.

Ted Smith, president of the Florida Automobile Dealers Association, said Aug. 5 it is still too early to know the storm's full impact on dealerships or employees in the state. He said he is most concerned for the counties between Tallahassee and Jacksonville but is grateful the storm was weaker than he expected.

Tom Moore, COO of Morgan Auto Group of Tampa, Fla., said some of the group’s dealerships were without power Aug. 5. It’s too early to assess the storm’s full impact, he said. The group operates more than 60 dealerships in the state. Its Tallahassee Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram dealership was closed until 12 p.m. Aug. 5 due to the weather, according to a post on its Facebook page. 

The hurricane brought heavy rain to Castriota Chevrolet in Hudson, Fla., owner Thomas Castriota told Automotive News. There is some minor leaking to the showroom roof, he said.

"Here in Pasco County, we were fortunate," Castriota said. "Where we are, we've had no flooding. We did move our vehicles from the low ground to the high ground."

Castriota said he is checking on his employees, as well. One employee had to stay in a hotel Sunday night because of power outages, he said.

Castriota also said he doesn't know where the dealership's sales will be by the end of Aug. 5. But it has 29 service appointments scheduled for the day, and as of 9:40 a.m. Eastern, none had been canceled, he said.

"We've had seven or eight already show up for appointments this morning," Castriota said.

Used-vehicle retailer CarMax Inc. closed its dealerships in Tallahassee and Gainesville, Fla., on Aug. 5 because of inclement weather, a company spokesperson told Automotive News via email.