Tampa Bay area braces for severe weather, coastal areas prepare

TAMPA, Fla. - It’s not the weather Kaitlyn Morris and her friend, Melanie Tracz, on vacation from Connecticut, were hoping for this weekend.

"I probably won’t break out my bathing suit at all," Morris said.

"Our best friends live right in St. Pete, so we’ve seen the nice weather and were hoping to get that for the kids right before the holidays, but we’re going to change our plans a bit and make the most of it," Tracz said.

READ: Here’s what’s been canceled, rescheduled ahead of severe weather threat this weekend

They’re not the only ones who’ve had to switch up their plans.

"`Everybody really, really looks forward to it, and so do the people that sit on the parade route and catch beads and candy and stuff," Largo Mayor Woody Brown, the Chairman of the Largo Old Fashioned Christmas Parade, said. "So, it's a bummer, but it'll be back next year stronger than ever," he said.

Anticipated severe weather forced Largo to cancel its Old Fashioned Christmas Parade. About a dozen people backed out of the parade even before it was canceled because of weather, Brown said.

"Everybody that's involved has been planning for that day since June, and it has always been a rain-or-shine event. And we've had some rainy parades where it was sprinkling before, but not with 35-mile-an-hour winds and a downpour," Brown said. 

READ: Tropical storm-like conditions possible as severe storms move into Bay Area this weekend

Indian Rocks Beach’s boat parade has been canceled too, but some of the participants will sail in Treasure Island’s boat parade that’s rescheduled for next Friday, Dec. 22.

"As we continued to watch the weather reports, we realized that it just wasn't safe to have people come out here [on] Saturday night with the wind, the rain that's expected," Jason Beisel, Treasure Island’s Spokesperson, said. 

"Our boat parade is actually growing a little bit. So, it's going to be a pretty big parade, and I think it may be one of the only ones that day. So, it's going to be festive," Beisel said.

This will also be the first test of the newly restored dunes that were rebuilt in an emergency project that just wrapped up at some of the Pinellas County beaches after Hurricane Idalia.

St. Pete city officials said crews cleaned out pipes and grates ahead of the storm like they do before any major rain event. They’re also keeping an eye on the weather to see if they need to take down any holiday decorations across the city. 

Officials across the Tampa Bay Area urge boat owners to secure their boats ahead of the storm. They also say it’s a good idea to take holiday decorations inside too.

You can find a list of all the events canceled and rescheduled here.