About 25 minutes from now, at 4pm, the Clearwater police at the Memorial Causeway  bridge are expecting to open the bridge back up to traffic. This will allow traffic to flow regularly to and from Clearwater Beach.  There are still high winds, but the storm surge and flooding doesn’t look terribly catastrophic  from the mainland.  Beachgoers will soon get their first look at the islands after the storm. I’m also hoping to bring you the first Hurricane Irma surf report as soon as the islands open back up.

4:13pm: