Hurricane Helene storm surge ‘unbelievable’ on Pinellas barrier islands

MADEIRA BEACH — A raging river of Gulf of Mexico water ripped through the heart of Madeira Beach just minutes after deputes blocked access to Pinellas County’s barrier islands at 6 p.m. Thursday.

It would be dusk by the time these densely populated islands would start facing the peak of Hurricane Helene’s storm surge, forecasters had warned, and here it came.

Water churned and splashed as it overtopped boardwalks and sand dunes and funneled onto this beachside city’s main artery, Gulf Boulevard, named after the waterbody now invading it.

There were no cars on the road except for lifted trucks and Jeeps with thick, oversized tires. Even they braked to a halt when they arrived at the river of debris-littered storm water, their drivers contemplating whether to drive through. Most didn’t.

Thousands of residents along the Tampa Bay area’s beachside communities were told to leave Wednesday morning as Hurricane Helene threatened potentially record-breaking surge of more than five feet. Those who defied the orders, from St. Pete Beach north to Redington Shores, told the Tampa Bay Times it’s a decision they quickly regretted.

In the Sunset Reef neighborhood in Redington Shores, Gary Forbes’ sliding glass door looked like an aquarium as water pressed against it.

His yard sat under five feet of surge and each successive wave that battered his bungalow submerged the windows entirely.

Earlier in the afternoon, Forbes had felt fine about his decision to stay. He’d never evacuated his waterfront home in 25 years, and didn’t expect this time to be any different.

At 5 p.m. he sent a selfie to his grandkids, decked out in a life vest and hard hat, a goofy grin contorting his handlebar mustache.

But the joke didn’t seem so funny three hours later, as he stood in the four inches of flood water that had begun to infiltrate his home. His van was toast, he said. His front door was sealed shut by surging water and beating wind. The option to leave was gone.

”This is astronomical,” he said. “I’ve never seen it this bad, never imagined it could be this bad. There’s no way I would have stayed if I’d known.”

Federal hurricane forecasters projected water here could reach up to eight feet, numbers that would overshadow Hurricane Idalia’s close call last year.

An hour before law enforcement blocked access to barrier islands, Pinellas County’s emergency managers were blunt in their message to residents. “NOW IS YOUR LAST CHANCE TO EVACUATE,” the county wrote on social media. If you don’t, shelter in place at your home’s highest point.

That’s what Susie Thome was doing two hours later. She stood in disbelief on the second floor of her Boca Ciega Isle home in St. Pete Beach as she watched water rush into the floor below.

Thome sealed the bottom of every downstairs door with tape, but it wasn’t enough.

”The water is coming in through every orifice it can find — it’s unbelievable. I’ve never seen anything like it,” she said.

At 6:50 p.m., a furious Boca Ciega Bay had overtopped the seawall in her backyard and merged with her pool. By 7 p.m., water was lapping against the side of her neighbor’s garage door. By 7:30 p.m., the water that was flooding her first floor was higher than her ankles — and rising — with hours still to go before Helene’s surge was supposed to reach its peak.

A day before Helene’s arrival, Thome was excited about staying home to ride out the storm. They had a generator, she explained at the time, and it wouldn’t be that bad.

But Thursday evening, Thome said she regretted that decision.

”I would’ve left if I would’ve known it was going to be like this,” she said.

“It’s just still coming in, and there’s nothing we can do about it.”

A few miles to the north, Frank Purrelli’s Treasure Island home started flooding around 7:30 p.m., around the same time his power cut out.

In four decades, he’d never seen water make it even half way up his driveway.

Now the 70-year-old found himself carrying his possessions one-by-one up to his second story in the dark.

“I’m trying to mitigate damage as much as I can,” he said.

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