Hurricane Helene Destroys 672 Cars At A Single Florida Dealership

Photo: Joe Raedle / Staff (Getty Images)

Hurricane Helene made landfall in the U.S. on September 26 near Perry, Florida, with winds blowing at Category 4 strength, killing at least 128 so far. Many of the stories we see focus on much of the devastation in North Carolina where people living in towns and cities several hours inland from the coast are still experiencing serious problems restoring power and getting necessary supplies in. Florida may have expected the hurricane, but it still got wrecked, too, with Automotive News reporting the hurricane destroyed nearly 700 cars at a single Florida Kia dealership.

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According to Ken Ganley, owner of Ken Ganley Kia New Port Richey, floodwaters from the hurricane destroyed 660 new and used vehicles that it had on the lot, as well as 12 customer cars that were in for repairs, bringing the total number of totaled vehicles to 672. Those aren’t his numbers, either. Those are the numbers the insurance adjusters gave him after they visited the dealership to evaluate the damage.

It’s difficult to nail down the exact total value of the vehicles that were totaled at the dealership, but Ganley told AutoNews he estimates it’s between $28 million and $30 million. He won’t get all of it back, though, because with a roughly $5,000 deductible to pay on every single totaled car, he’ll likely end up spending $3.5 million just in deductibles.

Ganley told Auto News that he lives in Ohio and first found out that his Port Richey Kia dealership had lost power on September 27. It was also under four feet of water in some places, he was told, and would likely lose every vehicle on the lot, which he did. The only cars that reportedly survived were ones that employees were able to drive off-site. Power came back on the 28th, and the dealership was able to reopen on the 29th even if it barely had any cars left to sell. One of the dealership’s four buildings can no longer be used, and cleanup efforts are still underway.

Don’t feel too bad for Ganley, though. Ken Ganley Automotive Group operates more than 50 dealerships and reportedly sold 40,872 cars in 2023. He’ll still be loaded even after paying several million dollars in deductibles. But it does help put into perspective just how long it’s going to take to recover and rebuild from Helene.