CLEARWATER, Fla. — Clearwater Beach is ready for visitors to come and enjoy its white sandy beaches again after being hit hard by Hurricane Milton.
City officials said most of the beach is open but sand cleaning and restoration efforts are still happening. The Pier 60 parking lot and south beach lot 32 are closed as crews continue to work there and visitors are asked to be cautious around the large equipment and vehicles that are moving the sand.
Lifeguards will be patrolling the beach from four lifeguard towers and from all-terrain vehicles in areas where restoration is still ongoing.
Pier 60 fishing pier is also still closed until an engineer completes a structural assessment. This is necessary to determine the level of damage that occurred during the storms.
“It’s been very difficult watching people struggle and not having their jobs in place,” Lisa Chandler, the owner of Pier 60 Concessions and Barefoot Beach House said.
Pier 60 Concessions reopened post-storm on Tuesday morning. Barefoot Beach House was flooded during Helene and is still being renovated. Chandler said they were devastated to have to let some long-term employees go.
"Prior to the storms we had about 130 employees, currently, we have about 40 employees,” Chandler explained. “We rely on tourism and visitors to the beach, so this has been very humbling, but again, we’re just very grateful to be reopened.”
The Clearwater Beach Recreation Center Parking lot is open for parking for those who plan to visit.
Many businesses on the beach were devastated by the storms.
“They’re hurting right now, they need visitors, they need to get back to work,” Clearwater Commissioner Brian Scott said. “And while we’re not at 100% yet, we have more bars, restaurants, hotels, and attractions coming online every single day.”
Places like Jimmy's Fish House and Iguana Bar were gutted during Helene with the doors and windows knocked out and tables thrown around.
Back-to-back hurricanes Milton and Helene battered the area and brought piles of dirty sand and debris onto the streets and coastal properties.
Helene made landfall as a Category 4 storm in Florida's Big Bend region last month, and Milton made landfall earlier this month as a Category 3 hurricane on a barrier island in Sarasota County.
The tourism promotion agency for the St. Petersburg-Clearwater area said in a news release that 80% of hotels and businesses in the area are open for business, even as clean-up and recovery continues.
Tourism is the number one economic driver in Pinellas County. 1 in 10 jobs are directly related to the hospitality industry, according to Visit St. Pete Clearwater.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.