ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Tuesday night, just before then-Hurricane Elsa was approaching the Tampa Bay area, the Shore Acres neighborhood of St. Petersburg was preparing for the worst.
Tropical Storm Eta is fresh in their minds. It was the storm no one was ready for.
"It came in so fast. Oh my god, so fast," said Jill Williams whose lived in Shore Acres for 34 years. She had $40,000 worth of property damage after Eta in November of 2020.
This time, Williams and her husband laid down tarps throughout their home and stacked their furniture on pavers a foot off the ground. They spent the July 4th holiday weekend prepping for rising waters.
Robert Smith, a 45-year resident of Shore Acres was also worried sick.
Smith said he didn't prepare for Eta last November. Eight months and $42,000 later, he didn't make that mistake with Elsa.
It was the most storm preparation he'd ever done on his house since 1976 and he decided to keep the sandbags in place.
"This will stay up through the majority of hurricane season now that I see what's possible. I don't want to have to go through it again," he said.
By late afternoon on Wednesday, waters that flooded the streets of Shore Acres at high tide had receded and neighbors were putting away sandbags and tarps.
"We got lucky," said Smith.
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