Clearwater Beach businesses cleaning up from sand and storm surge, visitors urged to stay away

CLEARWATER BEACH, Fla. (WFLA) — Hurricane Helene left its mark on Clearwater Beach, which has reopened to residents and business owners.

Popular destinations like Frenchy’s Rockaway Grill, the Palm Pavillion, and all down the beach are closed as workers clear the debris and sand.

Excavators and other crews have been working nonstop clearing thick layers of sand packed on sidewalks and streets.

While Clearwater Beach will reopen to visitors on Tuesday, Mayor Bruce Rector is asking people to give the community time.

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“Just because you can doesn’t mean you should. and we’d ask people to be respectful of letting the beach community recover,” said Mayor Bruce Rector.

Many of the homes and businesses have to be gutted.

“I’ve been here 45 years and never seen anything close to this,” said Clearwater Beach resident Larry Wilson. “It won’t get back for years. I mean, Clearwater beach won’t be the same for quite a while, beautiful Clearwater.”

“You look around and it’s like where do we even start,” said Matt Steiner, who returned to work on Clearwater Beach with a much different job for the day.

“We’re going to be shoveling sand. The text said punch in at nine and grab a shovel,” said Steiner.

“The recovery process long is going to take a significant amount of time. The infrastructure has taken a tremendous hit,” said Clearwater Police Chief Eric Gandy.

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