After cleaning up from Ian's aftermath, Daytona Beach readies for Biketoberfest '22

Daytona Beach Biketoberfest still on

Daytona Beach is preparing for its 30th year of Biketoberfest as the city cleans up the mess left behind by Hurricane Ian.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - This will be Biketoberfest’s 30th year in Daytona Beach. Organizers want to let visitors know the event is still up and running.

"Daytona is open, it's not closed. The water is receded. The damage, fortunately for Daytona, wasn't as bad as the West Coast," said John Diguilio whose company, Doan management, owns and operates four venues along Main Street, in Daytona Beach. "The power would be restored, which it has been. The city had been all around picking up as much debris, and the water receded. It looks like a great event's gonna start."

The Volusia County Lodging & Hospitality Association says most of Daytona Beach's hotels are running at or close to normal operations after Ian struck. The Plaza Resort and Spa is one of the hotels still recovering from the storm.

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"So the wind and massive rain infiltrated about half of the guest rooms on the property. On top of that, we lost electricity for four-and-a-half days," said Jonathan Abraham, owner, and general manager of the Plaza Resort and Spa.

Biketoberfest starts Thursday, October 13, and runs through the weekend. Abraham says they've been working with other hotels to re-book their guests. "It's a very deserved and welcoming event for the local area. We still don't have definite answers, and it scares us not to have a definite answer. It's not under our control at this current stage."