Pinellas County Power Outages, Evacuations And Flooded Streets

PINELLAS COUNTY, FL — Tropical Storm Eta caused severe flooding and power outages for residents throughout Pinellas County Wednesday night into Thursday.

Flooded streets happened in St. Petersburg areas such as Shore Acres and Madeira Beach, Gulfport and Redington Shores.

Pinellas County Sheriff's Office said it rescued 33 people from homes and roadways around the county by using boats and high water vehicles.

Most of the rescues occurred in the area from Pass-a-Grille in south St. Pete Beach north to Madeira Beach, according to authorities.

People who were rescued were taken to area hotels or to one of the shelters Pinellas County had open.

There were no injuries reported by deputies during the rescues.

Authorities and Duke Energy crews have been working to make sure roadways are clear of fallen trees, branches and debris.

According to Duke Energy's outage map, more than 20,000 homes and businesses were without power on Thursday morning. As of Thursday afternoon, the map shows that crews have restored electricity to more than half of those places. Duke expects to have 95 percent of customers restored before midnight.

In Gulfport, five sailboats broke free from their anchor and either crashed against a sea wall or became beached on the sand, Fox 13 reported.

Leo Potts, who lives in his sailboat, was not inside it when Eta brought sustained winds and floods to the area, but he had to watch as it crashed into the sea wall, the TV station reported.

“I guess the anchor came up and she got loose," he told a Fox 13 reporter. "There's about four to half a dozen of them out here. I came out here with binoculars. She moved. I couldn’t do anything but wait. It was just a gut-wrenching feeling.”

The outlet reported that Shore Acres experienced flooded streets and yards, and some residents were evacuated from Twin City Mobile Home Park at Gandy Boulevard were evacuated due to flooding. Other residents in the mobile home park who stayed behind were stuck on the other side of a flooded road in the area.

Tow trucks were sent throughout the County all night pulling cars from flooded roadways.

Eastbound lanes of the Courtney Causeway were closed overnight due to the high winds and large amounts of water splashing onto the bridge. The city of Clearwater confirmed that all lanes of the Courtney Campbell were reopened on Thursday afternoon after the completion of massive cleanup.