Rain-soaked but undeterred, Indian Rocks Beach keeps holiday parade rolling on Sunday, neighbors saying the community has weathered far worse.
INDIAN ROCKS BEACH, Fla. — A steady afternoon downpour washed out several holiday events across the region Sunday, but it didn’t stop one of the area’s most beloved traditions: the Indian Rocks Beach Christmas Street Parade.
“Well it’s pouring down rain but that’s not going to stop us. We’re out here celebrating Christmas like we do every year,” Brady Morris said as his family along with about 50 other people lined East Gulf Boulevard, umbrellas tilted against the weather.
Smiles beneath ponchos and rain jackets were hard to miss, even as rain fell harder than in any recent parade memory.
The Morris family repurposed their umbrellas to collect candy, embracing what participants called one of the rainiest parades they could recall.
“Has it ever been like this before?” 10 Tampa Bay News asked.
“It has not. This is the first time but there is a first time for everything,” Morris replied.
Dozens of decorated golf carts and cars rolled by, blasting music and tossing treats to children who were already soaked.
“I think the rain makes it more fun for kids,” Morris said in reference to his six-year-old son and four-year-old daughter alongside his wife, Ashton Morris. “There is nothing they love more than splashing in puddles. They finally get to be soaking wet and we allow them to.”
Others shrugged off the weather entirely. “It’s just water. It isn’t going to hurt you,” neighbor Jeannie Mele said.
The soggy parade brought to mind tougher challenges still lingering from last year’s hurricanes, which flooded numerous first-floor condo units in the Indian Rocks Beach community.
“Where my condo is, all the first-floor units were flooded. As we speak, they’re still not moved in yet. That’s how much damage,” Mele said. “There was a lot of trouble with permits and getting the work done. I feel for those people because they’re homeless. Fifty of them are homeless for what, 14 months now. It’s awful.”
Even so, Mele, a retiree who moved down to Florida in 1988, said the holiday spirit remains resilient.
“People want to come back and want to rebound from this,” Mele said. “Like I say, the spirit is strong and especially during the holiday season.”
Many paradegoers emphasized the rain wouldn’t deter them from returning next year.
“IRB Strong. Nothing is going to keep us down,” Mele said.
Indian Rocks Beach residents will turn their attention next to the city’s Christmas Lighted Boat Parade, scheduled to set sail at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 20, near the Holiday Inn Harbourside — weather permitting.