Philly natives turned California business owners prepare for Tropical Storm Hilary
SAN DIEGO (CBS) -- From Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, to parts of the West Coast, Tropical Storm Hilary is leading local businesses, including those with strong Philly ties in San Diego, to prepare for the intense weather.
Angel Pagan, a North Philly native, owns Steak N Fries. It's an authentic cheesesteak shop just minutes from the ocean where posters of each Philadelphia sports team are represented on the walls.
"We have our Philadelphia connection here," Angel Pagan said. "I got some sandbags here just to cover the door up."
He said he's keeping his doors open for now.
"We haven't had strong winds yet, but they say it's coming," Pagan said. "But I'm just praying it's not that bad."
Other business owners like Boomer Iacoangelo, who's originally from Delaware County, made the tough decision to close on Sunday because of the weather,
"Even if we would have made a little bit of money today, it wasn't worth to put the risk and the safety of our customers and our staff. So we just decided to close shop and give the staff a day off and everyone just kind of hunker down," Iacoangelo said.
His sports bar, Pretzels & Pints is San Diego's epicenter for all things Philly sports.
"We did put a few sandbags in front of our doors, and we have a giant outdoor patio with sun sails, which we took down as well so they wouldn't rip out of the wall or go flying somewhere else," Iacoangelo said.
For now, Iacoangelo is hunkering down with his family while repping the Eagles in the midst of all the rain.
Both business owners say although safety is their priority, their experience with severe weather in the Delaware Valley is easing their worries.
"There is little aspects of just sort of weather awareness that people are just kind of just numb to out here, but growing up in the northeast we definitely know what to expect and how to handle things like that," Iacoangelo said.
"To us it's like a heavy rainstorm," Pagan said. "We grew up in Philadelphia, so we've been through blizzards and snowstorms."