As Tampa Bay emerged from Helene’s devastation, some damage proved impassable
Two stories unfolded across Tampa Bay in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene’s damage Friday.
Some transportation and health services revived quickly, like the Tampa International Airport, which declared no “significant damage” in Helene’s wake. The St. Pete-Clearwater airport reopened as expected Friday morning, too. Tampa General Hospital’s AquaFence — a long watertight barrier securing the Davis Islands facility against storm surge — held, allowing emergency services to proceed.
Other services and thoroughfares residents depend on, however, struggled to reopen or went offline unexpectedly. St. Petersburg’s Northeast Water Reclamation Facility, which serves 25% of the city’s residents, was inundated with 7 feet of storm surge. Residents in northeast St. Petersburg, many of whom were not told to evacuate, can’t flush the toilet, shower or put anything down the drain for at least 48 hours.
Hundreds of thousands were without power in Tampa Bay as of Friday afternoon.
Bridges across the bay to Tampa were blocked off for nearly 24 hours on Thursday and Friday. The Courtney Campbell Causeway and Pinellas County’s barrier islands are still shuttered to traffic.
And then there are the many businesses in places like Gulfport and Davis Islands that face incalculable damage — and uncertain reopening times — after Helene. Storm surge ravaged the outdoor bars and decks at Gulfport eateries like Neptune’s Grill and Little Tommie’s Tiki. A spray of driftwood, dead palm fronds, foam and trash stuck in the chain-link fence at Peter O. Knight Airport, which was still closed Friday morning.
Here was the status of some Tampa Bay’s roadways, businesses, schools, hospitals and beaches as of late Friday afternoon.
Bridges
The Howard Frankland and Sunshine Skyway bridges had fully reopened by Friday afternoon, after closing to drivers 24 hours before.
The Gandy Bridge’s westbound lanes and an inside eastbound lane are open. One eastbound lane is still blocked off due to storm debris.
The Courtney Campbell Causeway was still closed as of 4 p.m. Friday.
Airports
Tampa and St. Pete-Clearwater international airports opened to travelers Friday morning, but a sea of delays and cancellations followed.
At Tampa International, a third of flights were canceled as of 4 p.m. Friday. Less than half were on-time. Early-afternoon flights at St. Pete-Clearwater were delayed by hours.
Schools
School districts closed campuses Thursday and Friday in preparation for Helene. Most are ready to bring students back Monday.
Pasco County school district officials said all but one campus — West Pasco Education Academy — will reopen on Monday. Six had power outages that are expected to be handled over the weekend, said Superintendent Kurt Browning.
Hernando County schools had no major problems because of the storm and will open all sites on Monday, spokesperson Karen Jordan said.
Two Hillsborough County schools had some water damage and minor flooding, which is being worked on, district spokesperson Tanya Arja said. All will likely reopen Monday.
Pinellas County crews were checking out schools during the afternoon. Superintendent Kevin Hendrick said early in the day that at least 30 were without power, and that two — Madeira Beach Fundamental K-8 and Gulf Beaches Elementary — were anticipated to have damages because of their proximity to the coast. Some schools were still being used as shelters.
The district had not completed its review to determine its next steps as of 3 p.m. Friday. Officials said they would provide an update on school status over the weekend. They already have scheduled one makeup day for Oct. 14.
Utilities
Around 210,000 utility customers were without power in Tampa Bay by 4 p.m. Friday, including around 170,000 Duke Energy customers in Pinellas County and around 40,000 Tampa Electric customers.
“There are portions of our system we can’t access because of the flooding,” said Cherie Jacobs, a spokesperson for Tampa Electric. “So, we can’t get a full assessment of our system at this hour.”
Flooding is the biggest issue, but crews also reported a lot of wires and trees down, Jacobs said.
Beaches
Clearwater Beach is closed to traffic as law enforcement and emergency crews remove sand that has piled as high as 6 feet on some streets, according to the Clearwater Police Department.
The Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office reported Friday that all barrier islands from the Dunedin Causeway through Tierra Verde are closed until further notice.
Places like Madeira, St. Pete and Pass-a-Grille beaches were covered in sand and debris, too. Photos shared by the sheriff’s office show cars halfway submerged in layers of sand.
Hospitals
Tampa Bay area hospitals reported no major impacts from Hurricane Helene early Friday. While the bridges to Davis Islands were closed due to flooding, Tampa General’s emergency centers operated as usual.
Farther north, there were some closures. Tampa General emergency rooms in Citrus County remained closed Friday morning while personnel assessed if they were safe to reopen.
Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg said outpatient facilities will be closed Friday as storm impacts are assessed.
BayCare, which operates 16 hospitals in West Central Florida, reported Friday morning that they’d had no significant impacts or evacuations.
Times staff writers Teghan Simonton, Colleen Wright, Jeff Solocheck, Lane DeGregory, Zack Sampson and Dan Sullivan contributed to this report.
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