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

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

The 56-year-old left his truck on high ground and decided to walk to his home about a block away in the Edgemoor area of ​​St. Petersburg, through the violent tides caused by Hurricane Helene near Tampa Bay were caused.

Sprague stayed out late with friends on Thursday, and when he returned, police had blocked his usual route home.

Although water had flowed into their neighbor’s house, the Spragues’ home had not been affected as of 11:30 p.m. However, the water was still rising.

“We are very lucky. We used to live in Shore Acres. Our house was flooded from front to back by Eta and Idalia,” said Kayla Sprague, Edwin’s wife. “As a result, I have post-traumatic stress disorder. I sympathize.”

Stunning images of flooding that contrasted with previous storms emerged across St. Petersburg early Friday morning. In Shore Acres the water level had almost reached the stop signs; in downtown St. Petersburg, the waters of the bay kissed The Vinoy; and in Gulfport, the small coastal town’s downtown was inundated with flood debris.

Of those stuck on the streets or in their homes, St. Petersburg residents echoed the same sentiment: They had never seen water so high.

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

Late Thursday, police cordoned off Shore Acres, St. Petersburg’s lowest-lying neighborhood.

David Noah, a resident of Shore Acres, lived in his home, which was 16 feet above the ground. He said the tides were higher than ever – by at least a few meters.

Noah described beeping cars inundated by floodwaters. He suspects hundreds of homes in the neighborhood are flooded.

Further inland from Shore Acres, by midnight, rapidly rising tides had flooded Fourth Street, a busy street 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 north of 58th Avenue at Fourth Street.

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

“It’s worse than anything I’ve seen before,” Shaw said of the surge. “The water was at least 1.5 meters high.”

As the height of the storm pumped water across Fourth Street, Midyett walked barefoot next to her sedan while Schmalz tried to keep the vehicle from stalling.

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

A few hours later, Helene’s anger subsided in downtown Gulfport, but there was still some water sloshing at the end of Beach Boulevard S.

The flood had left behind debris that reflected the Gulf city: a huge dock, beer cans, fruit and vegetables, a beach chair.

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

Ryan agreed with others and said the water levels were unprecedented. She had come to the restaurant the previous Thursday when the water came up to her hips.

Ryan looked at the scattered remains on the road.

“This is just devastating,” she said.

She found a stool from her restaurant among the rubble.

It read: “We will dance at Tiki despite ourselves.”

She took it home.

Times staff writer Langston Taylor contributed to this report.

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