Sand piled up along Gulf Boulevard looked like snow banks. Boats were pulled ashore into downtown Gulfport. And the water flooded the streets of the Davis Islands even after the sun rose and the surf receded elsewhere in Tampa Bay.

Emergency managers, sheriffs and meteorologists shared the same message Friday: Hurricane Helene delivered what the forecasters promised.

It was rightly predicted that Helene would become one of the largest Gulf hurricanes in decades. As it passed about 100 miles from Tampa on Thursday evening as a massive Category 4 storm, it created the life-threatening storm surge that forecasters had warned about. Officials said Helene killed at least five people in Pinellas County.

According to the National Weather Service office in Tampa Bay, the barrier islands of Pinellas and the beach towns on it were undoubtedly the hardest hit by Helene.

Preliminary data shows the storm surge there reached 8 feet, mirroring predictions forecasters made days before Helene made landfall in the state’s Big Bend region.

“It had a big impact on a lot of communities, especially in Pinellas County,” said Ali Davis, a meteorologist at the weather service’s Ruskin office. “It was definitely a pretty exciting scene for a lot of people, especially coastal communities, this morning.”

At Clearwater Beach, tide gauges measured surge levels at nearly 7 feet.

According to Clearwater police and fire department spokesman Rob Shaw, first responders there rescued more than half a dozen people overnight who called 911 for help as their homes were inundated by flooding from Hurricane Helene.

Also right on schedule, Helene’s rapid intensification, which occurs when a hurricane’s central pressure drops by 24 millibars – a unit of measurement of air pressure – in 24 hours.

The storm’s pressure fell by at least 30 millibars throughout the day, leading to landfall, Davis said.

While local meteorologists weren’t ready to call Helene the worst storm in Tampa Bay’s history, they did acknowledge that it broke records for recent storms.

Cat 4 was “definitely one of the worst storms we’ve seen in the Tampa Bay region,” Davis said.

For law enforcement, the extent of Helene’s damage wasn’t even a question.

“We have never experienced anything like this in Pinellas County,” said Pinellas Sheriff Bob Gualtieri.

The county received more than 7,000 emergency calls related to the hurricane. Gualtieri said callers told dispatchers last night that they were hiding in attics to avoid the rising water. Some were people in wheelchairs with water up to chest height, he added.

County officials counted more than 500 water rescues by first responders and said more than 1,600 people were staying in public shelters.

According to officials, the property damage was still being investigated on Friday. In Pinellas, at least 37,000 buildings were flooded, a district spokesman said.

As of Friday morning, the beaches still looked “like a war zone,” the sheriff said during a news conference. He urged residents to stay off the streets, which were still littered with sand, pieces of metal and loose propane tanks.

More than 40% of Duke Energy customers across the county remained without power, according to county spokeswoman Barbra Hernandez.

Disaster teams surveyed the county, working to clear roads, inspect bridges and clear debris, said Cathie Perkins, Pinellas County emergency manager.

“It will take a while for Pinellas County to look like it did three days ago,” she said.

Elsewhere in Tampa Bay, preliminary storm surge estimates show similar destruction.

While Tampa General Hospital was spared damage thanks to the flood barriers that officials hastily erected during Helene’s approach, the Davis Islands appeared to remain underwater long after the high tide ended Friday. It left “significant damage,” according to Tampa Mayor Jane Castor.

In areas the weather service says may be underrepresented, such as the East Bay from Port Manatee to Ruskin and the US-41 corridor near Apollo Beach and Gibson, reports of flooding reached its office Friday morning.

The meteorologists also breathed a sigh of relief after Helene. Tampa Bay had escaped another direct hit from a violent storm.

Davis said she saw one silver lining that Helene brought: It showed Tampa Bay firsthand how seriously the threat of a powerful hurricane should be taken.

“Hopefully people can build on this experience and take the appropriate actions — follow the evacuation orders and develop a hurricane plan in the event of this worst-case scenario,” she said. “And be better prepared for next time.”

Times staff writers Jack Evans and Tracey McManus contributed to this report.

• • •

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