'Nobody Worried': St. Pete Downtown Businesses Open Ahead Of Helene
ST. PETE, FL — With minor flooding occurring as Hurricane Helene, a Category 3 storm, headed toward the Florida coastline Thursday, residents and business owners in the St. Pete area waited for the worst. The mayor said it’s too late to evacuate, but many downtown bars and restaurants were busy and expecting more customers.
Bar@548 at 548 Central Ave. is on the same electric grid as nearby Orlando Health Bayfront Hospital, bartender C.J. Tyson told Patch around noon.
“So, I enjoy it,” he said. “We rarely run out of power. And we’re already known as a very big locals bar. You’re safer here than most places.”
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Most of the businesses said they would close later in the day as the storm amped up.
Parts of the city are already seeing the effects of the massive storm system, which is barreling across the Gulf toward the Big Bend region. It’s expected to make landfall in that area sometime Thursday night.
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While heavy rains and tropical storm-force winds are expected in the Tampa Bay area, the storm surge is the most concerning part. About 5 to 8 feet of storm surge is expected along the region’s coast.
“This will be a 12–36 hour water surge event … (and) an unprecedented amount of storm surge for St. Pete,” the city said in a news release.
Shore Acres and Snell Isle, areas that normally flood, are now closed to non-residents, the city said.
Sections of Bayshore Drive NE in St. Petersburg are already flooding, especially near the St. Petersburg Yacht Club, as water started to come over the seawall near the waterfront parks.
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Winds are also picking up, blowing debris around Central Avenue. An unsecured crane was swinging freely at the 46-story 400 Central residential tower under construction in St. Petersburg just before 1 p.m. Watch a video of the crane below:
Despite this, several bars and restaurants remained open, offering food, drinks, company and a safe haven for whomever needs it.
Tyson said of Bar@548, “If you circle back in an hour or two, this place will be packed.”
Many locals don’t seem concerned about Helene, he added. “I came out (here) last night just to read the energy, to see how people were really worried about the storm. But nobody was really worried.”
As a Tallahassee native who has lived in locations throughout the Tampa Bay area for the past decade, Tyson’s biggest concerns are back home with his family.
“They’re hunkering. They promised me they’re fine, but it’s still in the back of my mind about them,” he said. “When I did live there, we got hit really bad by Katrina and Ivan, and Katrina wasn’t a direct hit for us. Ivan was, and Ivan messed us up really bad.”
In the 200 block, known for its bars and nightlife, a busy bartender at Five Bucks Drinkery, 247 Central Ave., told Patch around 11:30 a.m., “We’re the only place open, so it’s good for me, but I also want to get home.”
She moved on to take another order, as the bar and grill was crowded, about 35 people eating and drinking over the lunch hour.
Two blocks away, La V, 441 Central Ave. remained open, hoping for a busy lunch crowd,
“It’s not too crazy right now,” Tyler Wagoner, manager, told Patch around noon. “We thought we’d just ride it out for lunch. Probably 3 o’clock we’ll get out of here. We’re just playing it by ear.”
Meanwhile, in the nearby Edge District, Ferg’s Sports Bar, 1320 Central Ave., was serving food and drinks to at least 150 people around 1 p.m.
Rich, a bartender also known as “Coach” who has worked at Ferg’s since it opened 32 years ago, said the venue never closes during hurricanes.
“We’re one of the few places that are open right now,” he told Patch. “We’ll go until about 5 o’clock and we’ll have a full house here. We have a generator and people are looking for something to do before it starts raining.”
Though these bars and restaurants are bustling, it’s too late to evacuate, and residents should shelter in place, St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch said at an 11:30 a.m. news conference, Tampa Axios reported.
“The storm conditions will only worsen over the next hours, the roads are becoming dangerous, and it’s not safe to drive,” Welch said. “We have high-water vehicles ready, but we hope that we don’t have to use them.”
As the storm moves closer, conditions will become too dangerous for emergency responders to help, emergency manager Amber Boulding said.
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