Storm surge sweeps ashore, flooding the Tampa area as Helene approaches

Storm chaser Leslie Hudson reported live from rising floodwaters in Tampa hours ahead of Helene's landfall on the evening of Sept. 26.

Transcript

00:00Continuing our team coverage right now is Accuweather correspondent Leslie Hudson.

00:05That's right, she joins us right now from Tampa, Florida with the latest. So Leslie,

00:09yeah we're tracking the latest. You're seeing the latest. Give us an update on

00:12what you're seeing. Yeah it's pretty incredible where we are. So we're at

00:19Gitcher Berries. We're in Gulfport. This is one of the lower line areas in this

00:25part of Pinellas and Hillsborough counties. They kind of straddle, but as

00:28you can see it is very high, this surge. I can't even get it further down there

00:33because I'm already up to the top of my waders. But look over here. You can see

00:38that roof. It just came off right when we were walking out here to get this live

00:42shot. So that roof right there, it's small, but again, no match for the wind and it continues to just really pump us down here.

00:52We shot some video earlier, about an hour ago, and the bay is just down there to the end, right over behind where it says Gulfport Casino.

01:02So that is where there's about 30 boats and about five of those boats, or six maybe, have already become unmoored and are moved.

01:13Now when Debbie came through here, remember they didn't get a direct hit either,

01:17about two dozen boats came off of their moorings and we're expecting it to get worse here tonight.

01:23The welcome here, say probably 10 p.m. to 11 p.m., maybe as late as midnight, will be the height of that onshore flow.

01:31So they're really concerned how many more boats will become unmoored in just this area.

01:36I can tell you in the Tampa area where we are, the major roads, the two bridges, the two major bridges, the Franklin Bridge,

01:45they're shut down, so you cannot get off the island, at least with those two bridges.

01:50One of the other main bridges is open, but the wind here easily sustains 50.

01:56We're getting a pretty good gust right now.

01:58Very difficult to stand and of course, again, anticipating worse weather in the coming hours.

02:06So we'll wait and see what else Olean has.

02:09A lot of folks did stay. We've seen tourists here taking pictures.

02:13You're not supposed to be out here, of course, and expecting more intense weather for the next couple of hours.

02:19They think the worst window is right now until about 10 p.m.

02:23For now, we are reporting live in Gulfport, Florida.

02:26I'm Leslie Hutchin. Back to you.

02:28Thanks, Leslie. Take a look at that current.

02:31That is so impressive.

02:33Leslie, keep safe out there and thanks for joining us here on AccuWeather Ahead.