TREASURE ISLAND, Fla., (WFLA) – Tourists and local businesses are adjusting to the first spring break since last year’s devastating hurricanes.

Visitors said they were expecting things to look different, while businesses are looking to rebound with help from the out-of-town guests.

Five months after Milton and Helene, spring breakers said they are surprised to see how many businesses are still closed because of hurricane damage.

“Crabby’s on the pass, gone. PCI’s gone. It’s just really different. It’s really different this year,” said Landis Wilson.

Locals, like Jenna Belscher, spend a lot of time on the beach surfing. She said it has been difficult trying to tell people where to go on the Island.

“It’s tough to try and give recommendations because a lot of the restaurants and stuff are either permanently closed or still rebuilding. So, I know a lot of people are lost just trying to figure out where they can go out to eat,” she said.

Treasure Island was hit hard by the storms, with much of the area left under 10 feet of storm surge.

“I didn’t go to the beach, I think, for over a month, because I just didn’t want to see it, and I didn’t want to see what was gone,” Belscher said. “So, it was tough coming down the first day and this whole parking lot was nonexistent, the main building got wiped out, all the homes, the streets, everything was just flooded with everyone’s stuff.”

Landis Wilson and her friends have been here before and said the area is nothing like they remembered.

“It’s completely displaced; there’s nobody really here,” she said. “There’s not a lot of tourists either. I feel like it’s completely different this year.”

“We’re in the unique position of being just a total island and so it’s harder for us to rebuild and it takes a long process because there’s so much we have to follow. Is it tedious? Yes. Is it frustrating? Yes, just what some of our codes say and what we have to do to follow FEMA’s rules,” said Jason Beisel with the City of Treasure Island.

To help out restaurants and businesses, commissioners passed a measure allowing them to have tents and food trucks in their parking lots so they can try to cash in on the spring break crowds.

The manager of Caddy’s said this is the only way they are going to be able to serve customers for at least another year.

“There was definitely a push to make sure we were open for spring break, you know, Caddy’s being a staple. It was important for us to be up and running to serve the community,” said Evan Bradish.

The beaches of Treasure Island are open, and businesses said they could use all the support they can get.

For spring breakers wanting to visit areas that look a bit more like what they are used to, much of Clearwater Beach and Siesta Key are back to normal.