Boat owners prepare for Hurricane Helene in Hudson Beach

HUDSON BEACH, Fla. (WFLA) — In Pasco County along the coast, neighbors were making last-minute preparations Wednesday to get ready for a potential storm surge.

At Skeleton Key Marina in Hudson Beach, boat owners were securing their boats to keep them from floating away.

A big concern is that storm surge could flood the marina.

“If we get five feet of water in here, it will be about a foot inside the boat and then just wash it out with fresh water,” said Charles Kosa, who was prepping his boat ahead of the storm. “Anything worse than that called the insurance company.”

Rick Akins said he sat in a line of vehicles getting their boats out of the water to move them to higher ground.

“It could take them off your boat lift if you don’t get it up high enough,” Akins said. “Boats travel wherever the wind is blowing them and they tear everything up.”

For Ken Grady, moving his sailboat wasn’t an option so he was doing what he could to secure it, and remove the motor.

“We just pray and hope for the best for everybody in the neighborhood,” said Grady.

Mandatory evacuations for Zone A started Wednesday morning. Zones B and C are voluntary.

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