Nearly a year after Hurricane Helene devastated Gulfport’s waterfront, two beloved businesses have reopened their doors.

Neptune Grill and Let It Be Ice Cream were among the hardest hit when storm surge and historic flooding left the district in ruins. Today, they are once again welcoming customers.

When the storm swept through Tampa Bay last September, Neptune Grill, a family-run seafood and Greek restaurant, took on more than four feet of water.

For co-owner Dia Vartsakis, who operates the restaurant alongside her father, Gus, the extent of the damage was overwhelming.

“I remember returning to the restaurant after the storm and turning the corner to find everything damaged. We found our food blocks down the street,” Vartsakis said in a conversation with St. Pete Rising.

It’s almost that time of year again to prepare for hurricane season, which runs from June 1st through November 30th.

The City of St. Petersburg, in partnership with Pinellas County, is taking precautionary measures ahead of the looming season by strengthening the region’s infrastructure.

The actions follow the release of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s 2025 Hurricane Outlook, which forecasts above-normal hurricane and tropical storm activity this season. The outlook predicts 13 to 19 named storms that could become hurricanes. Peak storm activity typically occurs between mid-August and mid-October, when tropical or subtropical cyclones are most likely to form in the North Atlantic Ocean.