The wait for Hurricane Helene to make landfall is over.

Residents of Florida’s Big Bend region faced a Category 4 storm wall landfall late Thursday night. Early Friday morning, nearly 1 million Floridians were without power.

In Tampa Bay, the storm caused record storm surge, inundating communities from the beaches to St. Petersburg’s Shore Acres neighborhood with floodwaters.

Tropical storm warnings were in effect from the Florida Keys to the Panhandle.

The toll Helene had taken would be laid bare as night turned to dawn.

12:49: The fallout from Helene’s property insurance

With such widespread devastation, one might expect Florida’s property insurance crisis to worsen post-Helene. But insurance companies aren’t so sure.

This is why.

00:35: A scene from the floods in St. Petersburg

Just steps from Edwin Sprague’s home, the 56-year-old sat in his pickup truck at a stop sign near SE Lincoln Circle N and First St. N in St. Petersburg.

He saw another pickup trying to navigate the flooded street just after 11 p.m
Police blocked Sprague’s usual path home. He had been out with friends for drinks and went back to a friend’s house.
Sprague watched as the other truck was forced to turn around, away from the murky brown water that began to creep over the driveways.
Sprague said he had never seen such high water near his home.

“I’ve been gone too long,” Sprague said.
After thinking about his options for about five minutes, he decided to walk home. He trudged through hip-deep water in canvas shoes and khaki shorts.

When he rounded the corner, his wife Kayla and daughter Meredith were standing in the driveway.

Although water had entered their neighbor’s home, the Spragues’ home was unaffected as of 11:30 p.m. But the water still rose.

“We are very lucky. We used to live in Shore Acres. Our house was flooded from front to back from Eta and Idalia,” said Kayla Sprague. “I have PTSD because of that. I sympathize.”

– Michaela Mulligan and Lauren Peace

12:23 a.m.: Storm surge isn’t limited to Tampa Bay

Helene’s effects are being felt across Florida’s Gulf Coast. A local reporter posted video to X late Thursday evening of a flooded street in Sarasota — about 200 miles south of the storm’s landfall.

12:10: Helene almost in Georgia

The worst of Hurricane Helene tore through the Florida Panhandle in about an hour.

The National Hurricane Center said in a midnight update that Helene’s “catastrophic winds” would soon hit southeast Georgia.

Government forecasters urged people in the region to stay indoors, even amid the relative calm of the eye of the storm.

Even as the worst of the storm continued, officials said they could expect dangerous conditions for several more hours. Helene is huge.

00:01: A recap of Thursday’s action

On Thursday, Helene left the Tampa Bay with a record storm surge.

In St. Petersburg, the city had to cut power to a reclamation plant, meaning homes in the northeast of the city were unable to flush toilets or shower for days.

More than a million Floridians were without power, including hundreds of thousands in Tampa Bay.

After being stronger all day Thursday, forecasters expected Helene to weaken after making landfall. But not before Florida’s Big Bend region – and beyond – is underwater.

• • •

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