Flooded streets after the Hurricane Helene are seen in Madeira Beach, Fla.,Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024. (Max Chesnes/Tampa Bay Times via AP)
TAMPA, FL — Hurricane Helene made landfall as a category 4 storm in the panhandle of Florida Thursday evening, but storm surge and winds brought damage and killed at least five people in the Tampa metro as the storm passed offshore.
One person died on a highway in Tampa because of a falling sign, according to Gov. Ron DeSantis, and another was killed in Dixie County, about two hours southeast of Tallahassee, when a tree fell on a house.
Five people died, at least two by drowning, in coastal communities in Pinellas County, Bob Gualtieri, the sheriff, said Friday morning. He said that two of the victims were found on Treasure Island, two in Indian Rocks Beach and one in Dunedin.
Find out what's happening in Tampafor free with the latest updates from Patch.
The storm brought dangerous storm surges and nightmarish winds to the state, knocking out power and flooding several neighborhoods in its wake. As the hurricane made its way to shore, the 14o mph winds from Helene reached nearly the same ferocity as last year's Hurricane Idalia. Over a million homes and businesses have reported power outages in Georgia, while the outage number in Florida dropped to about 978,000 by midday Friday after topping 1 million overnight.
See the photos below of the destruction the category 4 hurricane caused in the Southeast.
Find out what's happening in Tampafor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Thomas Chaves, left, and Vinny Almeida walk through floodwaters from Hurricane Helene in an attempt to reach Chaves's mother's house in the Shore Acres neighborhood Friday in St. Petersburg, Fla. (AP Photo/Mike Carlson)Halle Brooks kayaks down a street flooded in t. Petersburg, Fla. (AP Photo/Mike Carlson)An American flag sits in the floodwaters in in St. Petersburg. (AP Photo/Mike Carlson)Camryn Frick, left, and Jillian Sternick, both 22, and of Tampa, hold hands as they cross a flooded street together along Bayshore Boulevard on Thursday on Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024, in Tampa, Fla. (Jefferee Woo/Tampa Bay Times via AP)The St. Pete Pier is pictured among high winds and waves as Hurricane Helene makes its way toward the Florida panhandle. (Martha Asencio-Rhine/Tampa Bay Times via AP) This GOES-16 GeoColor satellite image taken at 5:46 p.m. EDT and provided by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) shows Hurricane Helene in the Gulf of Mexico moving towards Florida. (NOAA via AP)Vera Kelly, of Tallahassee, lies on a cot after evacuating to a hurricane shelter with her grandchildren and great grandchildren, at Fairview Middle School, ahead of the hurricane. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)Sharonda and Victor Davis, of Tallahassee, sit with their children Victoria background left, and Amaya, background right, inside a hurricane evacuation shelter at Fairview Middle School. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)A Sam's Club employee wraps wraps fuel pumps ahead of Hurricane Helene, expected to make landfall Thursday evening, Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024, in Valdosta, Ga. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)Charles Starling, a lineman with Team Fishel, is pelted with rain as he walks by a row of electrical line trucks stage in a field in The Villages, Fla., Thursday. (Stephen M. Dowell/Orlando Sentinel via AP)Louis Ward, 57, rides his bike along the the Gulfport waterfront as it takes on water. (Martha Asencio-Rhine/Tampa Bay Times via AP)Surfers take advantage of heavy winds along Higgs Beach in Key West, Florida, on Thursday. (Rob O'Neal/The Key West Citizen via AP)Guests at the Magic Kingdom break out ponchos at Cinderella Castle as bands of weather from Hurricane Helene move through Walt Disney World in Bay Lake, Fla. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel via AP)A damaged 100-year-old home is seen after an Oak tree landed on it after Hurricane Helene moved through the area Friday, Sept. 27, 2024, in Valdosta, Ga. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)Ronda Bell looks on after an Oak tree landed on her 100-year-old home. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)Jamir Lewis wades through flood waters with his two daughters Nylah and Aria due to storm surge from Hurricane Helene on Friday, Sept. 27, 2024 in Crystal River. (Luis Santana/Tampa Bay Times/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock)A semi-truck drives across a flooded street near Palmetto Beach on Friday, Sept. 27, 2024, in Tampa. (Jefferee Woo/Tampa Bay Times/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock)James Wilder, 55, of New Port Richey walks along a flooded street at Green Key Road near US 19 Friday, Sept. 27, 2024 in New Port Richey. (Chris Urso/Tampa Bay Times/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock)
