HOLLYWOOD, Fla. – The normally bustling Broadwalk on Hollywood Beach was looking bare Tuesday morning as rain ahead of Hurricane Milton drives away tourists, also leaving businesses looking empty.
“It’s not going to be terrible here, thank God, but I am concerned for the people over on the west coast,” Patrick McDermott, of Nick’s Bar & Grill, said. “People aren’t vacationing here, people aren’t coming to the beach. I mean, why would you come to the beach when it’s rainy.”
Workers at Nick’s Bar & Grill say traffic has slowed in recent days with Hurricane Milton set to impact Florida’s Gulf Coast.
Some have chosen to drive to South Florida from Tampa and Fort Myers, looking to escape the worst of the storm’s impact.
“I’m very concerned for the people in the Tampa area,” McDermott said. “I actually have a friend down here that’s staying with me from Sarasota because he was actually a little scared of it.”
“We’re retired, so we decided to spend a month in Naples to celebrate, and then the storm came,” Gary Bonomolo, who is visiting the area, said.
Those who are visiting, like Bonomolo, drove to Hollywood Beach from Naples after seeing the projected path of Milton.
Bonomolo made the trip down Interstate 75 and across Alligator Alley Monday, hoping to beat the gridlock seen Tuesday.
“Our friend in Hollywood Beach -- actually he lives in Dania Beach -- he’s the one who said come early. Leave on Monday instead of Tuesday, avoid all the Alligator Alley traffic,” he said.
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