CLEARWATER, Fla — Businesses along Florida's Gulf Coast are banking on a busy holiday weekend to help them continue recovering from the widespread damage caused by Hurricanes Helene and Milton.
Tampa Bay 28's Blake Phillips has spent months covering the recovery of tourism across Gulf Coast beach communities, from St. Pete Beach up to Madeira Beach and all the way to Clearwater.
Frenchy's restaurant on Clearwater Beach was among the businesses hit hard by the storms. General Manager Chris Tiemeier said the restaurant was already undergoing remodeling when Helene struck, which meant the damage could have been much worse.
"We were already remodeling at this location, so we had a lot of people that had either gotten second jobs or were traveling or whatever," Tiemeier said.
The restaurant remained closed until the Monday before Thanksgiving 2024.
"We didn't get the business back as quickly, I guess, as we hoped. But it was just kind of getting our feet back in," Tiemeier said.
However, with time, business is returning. It's still difficult to find parking spots along the beach, and there's plenty of traffic coming across the bridge — something these businesses welcome.
"I think it was almost back to what it was usually. We're like, 'oh, this is what it's like to be busy again,'" Tiemeier said.
Recent data from a Pinellas County Tourist Development Council meeting shows over $10 billion in economic impact was generated across the county for the fourth consecutive year.
Clearwater Mayor Bruce Rector says this demonstrates the community's hard work is paying off.
"After the damage, all of our tourism properties suffered throughout the past fiscal year, at the beginning of it. It is amazing what we have done collectively as a county," Rector said.
Heading into 2026, Frenchy's and other coastal businesses are hoping these positive trends continue as they work to return to pre-hurricane business levels.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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