PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — Clearwater Beach is officially back open!
Crews spent weeks fixing up the prized beach after hurricanes Helene and Milton. Now, city leaders are welcoming people back to the sandy shoreline.
"We need everyone to come out and support the beach as much as possible," said Charles Frasch, who works at The Salty Crab. "We've had all hands on deck since probably about four days after the storm after the people came back onto the beach."
Many businesses had to spend thousands of dollars to repair extensive damage from the pair of storms.
"We got about four or five feet of water, so we had to throw out most of our inventory just like everybody else. We are really starting from scratch here," said Stephanie King, who works at Toucans Bar and Grill.
Now, the message from Clearwater Beach leaders is clear.
"We need visitors, they need to get back to work, we need to get those folks back to work, so we need visitors to do that, so we want you to come back," said Brian Scott, Pinellas County Commissioner.
Local leaders said the beach is back open after weeks of moving sand from the streets back to the shore.
"Throughout Pinellas County, approximately 80% of hotels, restaurants, businesses, attractions, they are back up and running, and they are ready to welcome visitors to the area," said Brian Lowack with Visit St. Pete-Clearwater.
"It's been kind of slow for the most part. I feel like a lot of people aren't coming down because they don't know what's open or not," said King.
Brian Lowack with Visit St. Pete-Clearwater said construction workers and recovery crews are helping support the industry right now by eating at local restaurants and staying at hotels while work is being done.
Frasch said while the future is unknown, he's hopeful.
"It's going to be hard to say what is going to happen, honestly, but if people want to come back to the beach, we are more than happy to take care of them," said Frasch.
Local leaders said many other beach communities are also ready for visitors.
Oyster Shucker on St. Pete Beach is open for business.
"Come on down. There's still some hotels open, come on down. We need ya more than ever, we need you," said James Walantus, owner of Oyster Shucker.
Craig Debernardo is the owner of Category 36 Taphouse and Kitchen.
He reopened his restaurant about a week ago after Hurricane Helene flooded his business in September.
"Come on down. Enjoy the beaches. There are placed opened. Come on down, have a drink, have a pizza, have a stromboli. There are restaurants everywhere that are still trying to fight and go forward, come on down and say hi," said Debernardo.
The City of St. Pete Beach is hosting volunteer beach cleanups on Wednesday, October 30, and Saturday, November 2, to help restore the shoreline.
For more information on the cleanup event, click here.
A South Tampa man turned to Susan Solves It after he said ADT told him he had to keep paying for a security system at his Hurricane Helene-damaged home, even though the system was so new that he never had a day of service.
