Hurricane Helene brings historic flooding, disbelief to area

Residents throughout St. Petersburg and Pinellas County, at least those who slept, awoke to impassable streets and flood-damaged homes Friday morning.

Many people spent the night wondering if they, or their friends and family, would survive rapidly rising floodwaters caused by Category 4 Hurricane Helene. The massive storm brought a 6.3-foot storm surge – some reports topped seven feet – to St. Petersburg as it made landfall in Taylor County, in Florida’s Big Bend area, with 140 mph sustained winds.

Sirens replaced alarm clocks Friday morning as 232,000 Duke Energy customers lacked electricity. The company notified households at 8:22 a.m. that the “damage assessment process may take additional time” due to the “severe and widespread nature of the damage.” Winds gusted to over 80 mph in St. Petersburg

Several thousand St. Petersburg residents cannot flush toilets, take showers or wash laundry after city officials shuttered the Northeast Sewer Treatment Plant overnight to protect it from Helene’s storm surge. The plant will not resume operations for at least 48 hours.

Meteorologist Denis Phillips reported that St. Petersburg’s 6.3-foot storm surge significantly surpassed the previous record of 3.97 feet, set Aug. 31, 1985. Coastal neighborhoods and beach communities received widespread inundation long before the water level peaked.

In August 2023, Hurricane Idalia flooded over 1,500 homes with a roughly four-foot storm surge. Those numbers will pale in comparison to Helene’s totals.

A Shore Acres resident’s dog attempts to stay dry. Photo: Facebook.

All Pinellas County barrier islands remain closed to citizens, including residents. Florida Department of Transportation engineers are inspecting the Howard Frankland, Courtney Cambell Causeway, Gandy and Skyway Bridges for damage, and those also remain blocked to traffic.

Despite the devastation, many of those affected by Helene maintained a positive outlook. Christie Bruner, a Shore Acres resident and vice president of advocacy for the St. Petersburg Area Chamber of Commerce, said floodwaters reached her home’s windows and “I’m not the worst – by far.”

“Our city is the best, though – and everyone will help each other,” Bruner added. “People in St. Pete take care of each other. And we know that together, we can get through this.”

Here are social media reactions and pictures from Hurricane Helene: