Big Island business suffers nearly $100K in damages after Tonga eruption
By Web staff
Click here for updates on this story
Hawaii (KITV) — A Big Island snorkeling tour company is reeling in the damage caused by the aftermath of this weekend’s underwater volcano eruption near Tonga.
Manu Powers, President & CEO of Sea Quest Hawaii in Kailua-Kona, said she received a phone call from a Keahou Bay resident on Saturday morning, telling her the office may have been damaged.
When she first arrived, she didn’t think much of it, until she noticed her nearly 300-gallon propane tank had been removed from it’s mount and pushed halfway across the yard.
“That’s when we knew we were in trouble,” Powers explained.
Powers said the waterline inside came up three-feet in the office, and what wasn’t washed into the ocean, got pushed into the lobby.
“We got a text message from another company saying that they found one of our chairs at about 3,000 feet off the shoreline today floating in the water,” said Powers. “And, surfers found some of our shirts out in the line up.”
Between replacing the electricity and inventory, on top of hiring professional cleaners, Powers says the company’s financial loss is now approaching six figures.
“We’re hitting the $100,000 mark really fast,” Powers explained. “The pandemic has taken it’s toll on us. So, we were hoping that we would be out of the weeds, and now we’re even further behind than we could have imagined.”
Fortunately, the company’s boats are in tact and able to operate.
Despite the situation, Powers is staying positive, and said she’s thankful for the community’s support.
Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.
