Bay Area braces for severe weather conditions amid Hurricane Idalia restoration projects

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The Bay Area is bracing for possible tropical storm-like conditions this weekend, unwelcome news for many residents and business owners, just months after Hurricane Idalia and in the midst of restoration projects. 

In the last few weeks, Pinellas County has been working on a first of its kind beach rebuild, with more than 250,000 pounds of sand dumped on Pinellas beaches, and thousands of sea oats planted to stabilize the surface. 

FOX 13 spoke with a Pinellas County official who said they planned their beach restoration to account for future weather events, especially during an El Niño winter.

RELATED: Pinellas County beach restoration project enters final phase as completion nears

"We’ve had a couple of winter fronts come through that have already done some damage," Kelli Hammer Levy with Pinellas County Public Works said. "That was part of the plan of these dunes – to make them sufficiently wide and high so that they would survive these types of events, and minor tropical events over at least the next two years."

Still, restaurant owners and residents near the beaches are concerned about the storms this weekend. 

Matthew Vario owns two restaurants in St. Pete Beach, The Toasted Monkey and Buoy’s Waterfront. He had damage to his dock and his bar, and he hopes this weekend isn’t too bad. 

"We tend to wait as long as we can [to storm prep], so we don’t interrupt business. Saturday is our busiest day. But tomorrow we will pull a lot of stuff off. If we see flooding is going to be high, we will pull equipment off the floor, pull stuff inside," Vario said. "It’s all hands on deck – other restaurants do that too."

READ: 185,000 tons of sand placed on Pinellas County beaches since Hurricane Idalia

"We’re kind of used to it, as used to it as you can get," Vario said. "It’s a lot of work, a lot of stress, but if we’re not open, we still have bills to pay, so we have to get back open as soon as possible."

As far as the beach restorations, Pinellas officials said the new dunes should hold up. 

So far, they have completed restoration projects on Sunset Beach on Treasure Island, Madeira Beach, Pass-a-Grille, Bellaire and Indian Rocks. As soon as this coming Monday, they will begin hauling sand to Indian Shores.