CLEARWATER, Fla. — Clearwater Beach has long been known as one of the top travel destinations in the United States for tourists seeking paradise.
But in the days since Hurricane Helene ravaged the Tampa Bay area, it's anything but paradise.
"The Clearwater Beach you know and love is not ready for visitors," the Clearwater Police Department wrote in a Facebook post this week. "While police checkpoints will have ended to allow traffic on and off the barrier island, now is not the time to come to Clearwater to sightsee."
After being shut down prior to Hurricane Helene's impacts, Clearwater Beach access reopened on Saturday. However, access has been restricted to only residents and business owners with a barrier island re-entry pass.
Contractors, cleanup crews and other recovery resources are using the roads on Clearwater Beach. The police department wants to avoid visitors "clogging the streets" to keep crews flowing efficiently.
Not to mention, conditions on the beach are far from ideal for visitors.
"The public bathing beach is filled with dirty sand and debris, and dead marine life is causing it to smell," police said, adding that parking lots are unavailable and some roads are still full of sand.
Earlier this week, law enforcement said it would be doubling down on efforts to patrol the barrier islands to prevent looting.
"Looters or anyone who comes to the barrier islands with bad intentions should know that we are out here, and we are going to put you in jail. This is no time or place to take advantage of people. It will not be tolerated," Sheriff Bob Gualtieri said in a statement.
Several popular businesses in the area that visitors would normally frequent are out of commission.
RELATED: While massive post-Helene cleanup continues in Clearwater, officials urge public to stay away
“A lot of water, looks like it was at least three feet inside a lot of the properties,” says Frenchy’s Rockaway Grill General Manager Chris Tiemeier.
The popular Clearwater spot suffered water damage, their outdoor eating deck was filled with sand and their parking lot buckled under the strength of the storm surge.
“We've never seen this,” said Tiemeier. “I mean, we've seen water come up, but I've never seen the parking lot come up and break apart and float around and or cave in completely.
Frenchy's wasn't the only one.
Jimmy's Fish House and Iguana Bar also fell victim to Helene's wrath.
“Thinking this was going to be a big bag of nothing," Owner Jeff Keierleber said. "It was not a big bag of nothing. It was a huge bag of something.”
On Wednesday, Governor Ron DeSantis was in Pinellas County providing an update on relief efforts. His overall sentiment was that our barrier island communities were "making progress," noting the harmony that first responders, state resources and business owners had in getting back to a sense of normalcy.
"This isn't always the case," he said, explaining how oftentimes cleanup and recovery from disasters take a lot longer.
And as recovery continues, the city of Clearwater reminds you, "please do not come to the beach to galivant and satisfy any sense of curiosity. If you do, this would be at the expense of our residents and businesses that have already lost so much."