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Business & Tech

Sayville Businesses Clean Up After Storm

Chamber of Commerce says Hurricane Irene had "enormous impact" on local stores.

For , the first step was cleaning up the mud.

During , the ferry terminal was swamped with almost a foot of water. For the last few days, staffers have been drying out carpets with big fans and washing walls and floors.

"Right now, it's more a rush to clean up," said assistent manager Bill Leigh-Manuell. "Then we'll re-group."

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For Sayville Ferry Service and countless other businesses, re-grouping means taking stock of the money lost during the storm, and figuring out ways to recover some of that capital.

The end of August is usually big business for Sayville stores.

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"This weekend last year we had a pretty good Saturday and Sunday," said owner Brandon Barrett. "It hurts to lose two weekend days."

It's a common refrain for Main Street store owners.

The imact "is enormous," said Bill Etts, vice president of the . "It wreaks havoc."

There are some business winners, he noted, including restaurants that do take-out and laundromats.

But for the most part, customer traffic is light this week as Sayville families deal with Irene's aftermath.

Many businesses are also still without power and struggling to re-open at full force.

"I think that most people are still concerned about their homes," Etts said. "A lot of Sayville still doesn't have power today."

manager Randall Wilson said he's been running around this week, filling in for staffers who can't come to work because they don't have power. 

"It's definitely rough," he said. "The weekend is usually the biggest time for us."

But most owners, said they aren't planning anything special to recoup their losses.

"Nothing planned immediately," Barrett said. "We're just kind of hoping."

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