St. Pete Beach was nearly deserted late this morning, the winds calm, the beach deserted, the only noise the pigeons and seagulls pecking around.
Any people still around weren't planning to stay.
Brothers Steve and Jeff Struthers have lived on the same spot of St. Pete Beach their whole lives, next door to each other, next to the house they were raised in. They surfed during other storms and remember evacutating only a handful of times.
Packing up a few belongings before leaving, they were nervous for their homes.
"I think this is going to be a big one," Steve Struthers, 37, said. "The others didn't scare me as much."
"Can't forget the Mike Alstott football," Jeff Struthers, 38, called out to his brother while loading the autographed ball into his truck.
Jeff Struther's windows were boarded, his brother's weren't. Both houses are nearly 100 years old, and they don't expect to find them when they return.
Up and down St. Pete Beach, some windows were covered, but most were not. About one in three of the beachfront high rises had storm shutters covering windows.
