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Fort Myers flooding hurts businesses

Posted at 9:42 AM, Aug 28, 2017
and last updated 2017-08-28 10:23:39-04

Lamotta's Italian Restaurant in Fort Myers was closed Sunday for the third day in a row due to major flooding in their parking lot.

The owner, Carmelo Lamotta, says he's struggling to pay their bills and employees because they are losing revenue from being closed.  Not to mention the water is physically affecting their business, too.

"The water has come up into the kitchen from the drain systems," Lamotta said.

He says they've also reached out to Lee County utilities and they say there's nowhere for that water to be drained properly.  "They say the water can't go into the drains because the drains are filled, the lakes are filled and the ponds are filled."

He's also said it's so deep, he's noticed an alligator and fish swimming in the parking lot water.

Lamotta says he's reached out to local government to see if they can help. "Make this a natural disaster. Maybe we can go through our insurance companies, but until then there's nothing we can do," he said.