Before-and-after aerial images show how Hurricane Helene hurt Tampa Bay

Hurricane Helene is gone, but her trail of scars remains.

In the hours after Helene’s peak storm surge, the people in flood-prone areas across Pinellas County discovered scenes of cars under several feet of sand, houses burned, small businesses lost and lives upended. Images from the ground told the story of the area’s worst storm in a century.

But to fully grasp just how vast the area of Helene’s damage spans, from the islands to the mainland, the federal National Ocean Service on Sunday flew over the Tampa Bay area to capture high-definition images.

These images are a “crucial tool” to determine the full extent of Helene’s damage, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which oversees the ocean service. The imagery should help residents living in the Tampa Bay area get a better idea of how the major hurricane lashed into property and the environment.

Pilots previously flew over Florida’s Big Bend region on Friday and to Cedar Key and Steinhatchee a day later. All of the post-storm aerial imagery can be found here.

Three days after Helene buzz-sawed its way past the region, here’s what crews saw as they flew over Pinellas County.

Pass-A-Grille Beach

The Don CeSar Hotel on St. Pete Beach

Sunset Beach

Flora Wylie Park in Downtown St. Petersburg

Shore Acres neighborhood

Fort De Soto Park

St. Pete Pier, Downtown St. Petersburg