Business going strong in South Padre Island amid storm

SOUTH PADRE ISLAND, Texas (ValleyCentral) — Business is normal on South Padre Island as Beryl moves north.

Businesses are filled with people; however, one family did say they are cutting their vacation short because of the storm.

People are in the water, relaxing with their pets, and the streets are filled with cars. Local businesses like The Sugar Shack say it was a successful Fourth of July extended weekend.

“People come to our business and people still come to our store, and people are still visiting and the Island is doing very good in general for all businesses," Montoya said. "Really as long as no one is getting hurt we do good.”

Esmeralda Montoya says they played it safe and made some preparations ahead of the storm. They have generators ready to make sure the ice cream does not melt.

She says employees will remove all chairs and umbrellas before the storm impacts the area.

Ulysses Lizama, who works at Mirage, says they will remain open as long as the storm is manageable.

“We don’t close," he said. "We just stay in the storm and in the case that it calms down, then we open again. If it's getting so bad, then we might go home. If they close the bridge, then we just stay here on the island.”

Michelle Radateovich is from the Dallas-Fort Worth area. She says her family decided to cut their vacation short because of the severe weather threat.

“We were planning on leaving on Monday but because of the hurricane, and just not really knowing how bad the traffic is going to be getting out on the bridge," said Radateovich. "So we're thinking, you know, maybe we don't want to risk it.”

She says her husband is from New Orleans and experienced Hurricane Katrina, and they do not want to risk it. The smallest from the group says she enjoyed her time at the beach and shopping around.

“At least we got it to the beach and like shop around and ice cream. It has been pretty fun," Isabella Gomez said.