Memorial Causeway Bridge To Close Early Sunday

CLEARWATER, FL — In anticipation of Hurricane Irma, access to Clearwater Beach via Memorial Causeway and Gulf Boulevard will be shut down early Sunday morning, city officials said.

Access will be shut down starting at 6 a.m. Sunday. It is unclear when the bridge would reopen.

On its current projected path, Hurricane Irma is expected to cross over the Florida Keys early Sunday morning before beginning a potentially devastating trek north, along the west coast. Forecasters expect Irma to make it well north of the Tampa Bay area before losing major hurricane status. (For more hurricane news or local news from Florida, click here to sign up for real-time news alerts and newsletters from Tampa Patch, and click here to find your local Florida Patch. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app.)

Storm surge potential is a major concern in the Tampa Bay area. Although somewhat weakened, hurricane center forecasters warn that Irma remains a powerful storm.

At the National Weather Service’s Tampa Bay office in Ruskin, forecasters have issued a flash flood watch through 8 a.m. Sept. 11, in addition to the hurricane and storm surge warnings.

Patch will update this story.

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