A deceptively calm Gulf and balmy breezes were the background for Clearwater’s mayor Tuesday, as he welcomed visitors back after Pinellas’ beaches were slammed by back-to-back hurricanes.
Mayor Bruce Rector said about 80% of the hotels and restaurants have reopened. But he mentioned the hospitality workers who are struggling as hotels and restaurants were closed for rebuilding for several weeks after Hurricane Milton.
“We’re trying to help our tourism industry recover from these storms,” Rector said at Clearwater Beach. “And we wanted to get the word out that we have most of our hotels are open again and many of our restaurants are open and the folks that work in those hotels and restaurants, they need work to feed their families.”…