Hurricane Helene: Crews working to clear sand left behind on Clearwater Beach

Time-lapse shows Clearwater Beach crews clearing sand after Helene

FOX 13 News

CLEARWATER BEACH, Fla. - Hurricane Helene battered the Tampa Bay area's coastal communities, which are still working to recover one week after the storm.

Many communities, including Pinellas County, were left with mountains of sand brought in by the record storm surge from Helene. Crews on Clearwater Beach could be seen working to sift through and clear the sand left behind by the major hurricane that brushed Florida's Gulf coast before making landfall in the Big Bend area.

Heavy machines could be seen on a time-lapse video from FOX 13's Clearwater Beach camera moving sand and using dump trucks to tow off sand that needs to be cleaned to holding areas.

It's another step closer to normalcy in the wake of Hurricane Helene – a storm that has caused a lot of damage to many Tampa Bay communities.

The piles of sand can be found in many coastal communities and beach towns in the Bay Area after the storm. It's one of the major effects seen from Helene, which covered many streets in sand – in some spots several feet deep.

However, it's not as easy as putting hundreds of tons of sand back down by the water, where some spots on the beach sorely need it because of erosion. Officials, in fact, are urging residents and business owners to check the sand for any debris or contaminants before moving it.

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"There’s a lot of stuff out there. If it’s contaminated, we as a government can’t put it back on the beach," said Pinellas County Commissioner Charlie Justice earlier this week.

Clearwater Beach crews originally began separating debris from sand using shovels and rakes on Tuesday.

Officials said that if the sand has stains, it smells or there's debris in it, don't put it back on the beach. If it's clean, smells okay and isn't contaminated, the sand can be placed back on the beach.

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