In St. Petersburg, Hurricane Helene flooding is unlike any other storm

7 months ago 62

Edwin Sprague trudged through hip-deep water in canvas shoes and khaki shorts.

The 56-year-old left his truck on higher ground, deciding to walk to his home about a block away in the Edgemoor area of St. Petersburg, through thrashing tides caused by Hurricane Helene’s slice near Tampa Bay.

Sprague stayed out late with friends Thursday, and by the time he’d made it back police had blocked off his usual path home.

Though water had coursed into their neighbor’s home, the Spragues’ house was unaffected as of 11:30 p.m. But the water was still rising.

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

Across St. Petersburg, stunning images emerged early Friday morning of flooding unlike previous storms. In Shore Acres, water levels had nearly reached stop signs; in downtown St. Petersburg, bay waters kissed The Vinoy; and in Gulfport, the small seaside town’s downtown was awash with debris from tidal flooding.

From those stuck on the roads or in their homes, residents in St. Petersburg repeated the same sentiment: They’d never seen water so high.

A tidal gauge at Albert Whitted Airport showed flooding peaked at 12:24 a.m. Friday, 6.3 feet above an average high tide. The mark set a new record at the location — more than 2 feet higher than during Hurricane Elena in 1985 or Hurricane Idalia in 2023

Late Thursday, police had blocked off Shore Acres, the lowest lying neighborhood in St. Petersburg.

David Noah, a resident of Shore Acres, stayed in his home, which was elevated 16 feet above ground. He said tides were higher than he’d ever seen — by at least a few feet.

Noah described bleeping cars swamped by flood waters. He suspects hundreds of homes are flooded in the neighborhood.

Further inland from Shore Acres, ballooning tides around midnight had swamped Fourth Street, a heavily trafficked road lined with businesses and apartments.

It took Megan Schmalz, Brandon Midyett and Austin Shaw more than an hour to crawl from Gulfport to their home just north of 58th Avenue on Fourth Street.

The three drove to Gulfport earlier in the evening to check on Shaw’s grandparents.

“It’s worse than anything I’ve seen before,” Shaw said of the surge. “The water was up at least 5 feet.”

As peak surge sent water pumping across Fourth Street, Midyett walked barefoot beside their sedan while Schmalz steered to try to avoid stalling out.

“We’re doing what we have to do to get home,” Midyett said.

A few hours later in downtown Gulfport, Helene’s wrath was abating, but some water still sloshed near the end of Beach Boulevard S.

The surge had left behind debris reflecting the gulfside town: a massive dock, beer cans, fruits and vegetables, a beach chair.

Meaghan Ryan, 41, came down early Friday to check on the restaurant she manages, the Tiki Bar and Grill, for the third time in the past 24 hours.

Ryan, echoing others, said water levels were unprecedented. She had come to the restaurant earlier on Thursday, when water reached her hips.

Ryan looked out at the scattered remains on the road.

“This is just devastating,” she said.

Among the debris, she found a stool from her restaurant.

On it, it read: “In spite of ourselves we’ll be dancing at Tiki.”