Tampa Bay businesses stayed open hours before Helene hit. Why?

Before Hurricane Helene walloped Tampa Bay’s barrier islands Thursday, general manager Jeff Hickman unlocked the doors to The Shipwreck on Clearwater Beach.

That evening, he would usher the last three customers — Clearwater Beach residents enduring the storm with a cocktail or two — out the door as winds grew stronger and waves from the Gulf of Mexico lapped onto the streets. Hours later, he was forcing open his car door amid rushing floodwaters, his 10-year-old Chihuahua, Nacho, in his arms.

His car stalled and began floating down Mandalay Avenue. He called 911. Out the window, Hickman saw the Sandpearl Resort. He flung himself into waist-high water, cellphone still pressed to his ear. Holding Nacho above his head, he began to wade, finally taking refuge at the Sandpearl for the night.

“Everyone’s going to say, ‘You should have evacuated,’” Hickman said. “We are in (evacuation) Zone A, and everybody was supposed to be gone. But obviously a lot of people stay.”

From Clearwater Beach to Treasure Island to Tampa’s Channel District, at least eight bars and restaurants in or near mandatory evacuation zones stayed open Thursday, sometimes late into the night.

In Pinellas County, businesses were advised by the economic development department to heed mandatory evacuation orders by noon Thursday and close. In Hillsborough County, evacuation orders are presumed to include businesses, a county spokesperson said.

Hickman told his staff of eight to stay home Thursday. But The Shipwreck had never closed during tropical storms in the past and hadn’t seen flooding in more than 25 years.

The bar wore its status as a refuge amid bad weather like a “badge of honor,” he said.

So he came in.

The worst storm Tampa Bay has seen in more than a century may change that tune next time, he said.

The next morning, the bar was still flooded. On Monday, a foot of muck coated the floors. Reopening will take weeks, if not months.

Other business owners cited their reputation for staying open as a community watering hole while storms approach. Sheila Smith, owner of the Southside Coffee Brew Bar in St. Petersburg’s Big Bayou neighborhood, operates next to an evacuation zone.

The coffee shop was open until 1 p.m. Thursday to a steady trickle of customers. It has stayed open during other close calls for Tampa Bay, even as floodwaters crawl along surrounding streets, Smith said.

“We never close,” Smith said. “I’ve been here 10 years. Everyone kind of comes in before they hunker down” for the storm.

Smith said she had at least three employees volunteer to work Thursday with her. Friday morning, the shop had been spared. The lights came on. Neighbors without electricity, some who had lost their possessions to flooding, lined up into the parking lot.

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Some businesses choose to stay open during storms for the sake of community ties, said Robert Pierce, a business consultant for Hillsborough County Economic Development. At downtown St. Petersburg’s Craft Kafe Thursday and Friday, baristas doled out free coffee to first responders staying in a hotel nearby, owner Teddy Skiadiotis said.

La La’s Sangria Bar, in a mandatory evacuation zone in Tampa’s Channel District, stayed open until 3 a.m. as Helene passed through. “Stay safe but we are open for the neighborhood,” an Instagram post read. A block away, streets flooded. Residents who hadn’t evacuated from the apartment complex above wandered in through the night, owner John English said.

For Uptown Eats in St. Petersburg, money was another factor. This summer was even rougher for small businesses than last year, when many struggled to amass enough revenue, owner Dan Schmidt said. The cafe opened until noon Thursday.

“We need the revenue,” he said. “And then I talked to the staff, and they need the hours.”

Business owners and managers who spoke with the Tampa Bay Times repeated the same sentiment: no employee was forced to come in. Some, like Hickman and Anthony Roman of Hawthorne Bottle Shoppe, worked their bars alone Thursday.

But offering an option to work presents a problem, said Chris Wilkerson, a spokesperson for Hillsborough County. Employees may choose wages over safely evacuating, he said.

“You’re asking them to come in for a lunch shift on Thursday. Maybe you close just in time for the storm to get here, and that works for you as a business owner,” Wilkerson said. “For all of your employees, they didn’t get to plan. They didn’t get to evacuate. They may not be in a financial position” to leave.

The Shipwreck wasn’t the only bar on Pinellas County’s barrier islands to stay open — only to face devastation within hours. Ka’Tiki, a live music bar in Treasure Island, announced it would remain open until 6 p.m. Thursday.

Days later came pictures of the bar engulfed in piles of sand, tables and branches thrown haphazardly nearby. “Closed until further notice,” the business said.

“On a positive note the bar is still standing!” one commenter replied.