Clearwater businesses boarding up ahead of Hurricane Idalia

AccuWeather

AccuWeather correspondent Leslie Hudson reported live from Clearfield, Florida, showcasing how business owners prepared for the worst on the day before Idalia's landfall.

Transcript

00:00 AccuWeather correspondent Leslie Huntsett is live in Clearwater, Florida with the details.

00:05 Leslie, thanks for joining us.

00:07 Absolutely. Yeah, things are definitely starting to notice that there is a lot of folks that have left this area

00:16 and are off the roads, and it looks like it's going to continue to be that way as we head through these next several hours.

00:21 Now, I was out in Clearwater Beach earlier today shooting video,

00:25 and I would say if I had to guesstimate, there was probably about 15 to 20 percent of the businesses that I saw

00:31 on that main strip that boarded up or put sandbags down in an abundance of caution.

00:36 But I will say that we are anticipating around a 47-foot surge as Adalia passes to the west as we get into the next 24 hours.

00:47 So a lot of folks wanted to go ahead and take those precautions.

00:51 A lot of people I talked to today said that at least this is very similar to what they experienced with Ian last year,

00:58 24 hours before they got their closest impact.

01:01 So in terms of wind, we've had some squalls move through here, heavy rain from time to time as well.

01:08 And as I mentioned, several of the businesses decided to go ahead and board up.

01:12 We talked to the owner of the Toucan Bar and Grill, and he decided to do just that.

01:18 We'll make it safe because you never know. I believe in life.

01:22 If I don't board it this year, we're going to be hit.

01:25 So I said, you know what? We're doing it.

01:28 You know, we're doing it because I don't want to get any damage.

01:36 Safe for everybody.

01:37 Now, I will say what most people saw last year when they saw Ian was a lot of sand and some localized flooding.

01:47 And that is what most people are expecting this year.

01:49 But again, because there's still a lot of time and there's many things that can happen.

01:54 Folks again in this region, in Clearwater Beach, went ahead and boarded up and put those sandbags out.

01:59 And you still have a little time here.

02:01 There are some areas around Clearwater where you can get sandbags.

02:05 And there are about 10 shelters currently open in Hillsborough County where I am.

02:10 One of those does take animals.

02:11 So if you have dogs, cats, birds, you can go to that shelter.

02:15 It is open and there are several people that are taking advantage of that use.

02:20 All right, for now, we are in Clearwater Beach reporting live.

02:22 I'm Leslie Hudson. Back to you.

02:24 All right, Leslie, thank you for that report.

02:25 Good to hear the urgency here with the residents.

02:28 We are going to dive our way here and quickly to a dahlia that is lifting its way off toward the north at 15 miles per hour.

02:34 Continuing to organize, continuing to strengthen landfall as we go into mid-morning on Wednesday.

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