Wedding venue in Blue Ridge, GA for couples in Town n Country, FL

Milton’s quadruple-whammy of deadly tornadoes, heavy rain, hurricane-force wind and storm surge left damage from coast to coast, but the Tampa Bay area escaped the monster inundation meteorologists had feared.

Hours after Milton’s outer bands spawned the first of many tornadoes in the southern half of the state, the Category 3 storm’s eye made landfall at 8:30 p.m. in Siesta Key, just south of Sarasota.

The storm carved an unusual path for a gulf hurricane, slamming directly into Florida from the west and crossing the state rather than veering north. Around midmorning Thursday, Milton lumbered northeast of Cape Canaveral into the Atlantic, still a Category 1 hurricane.

Florida hurricane history

2009-2024

Tropical storm

Category 1

2

3

4

5

Wind speed

75 mph

95

110

130

>157 mph

IDALIA 2023

ALABAMA

GEORGIA

SALLY 2020

Pensacola

Tallahassee

Jacksonville

HELENE 2024

DEBBY 2024

MICHAEL 2018

HERMINE 2016

Gainesville

MATTHEW 2016

Orlando

Tampa

NICOLE 2022

MILTON 2024

IAN 2022

Fort

Myers

Miami

IRMA 2017

100 MILES

Key West

It was the fifth hurricane to strike the Gulf Coast this year, after Beryl, Debby, Francine and Helene, tying 2024 with 2005 and 2020 for second-most ever behind 1886, which had six.

The storm dropped nearly two feet of rain in some areas along its north side, causing flooding inland and piling additional water on top of the storm surge on both coasts. In St. Petersburg, over 9 inches of rain fell in three hours on Wednesday evening.

Milton had taken just 24 hours to intensify from a ho-hum tropical storm on Sunday to a Category 5 hurricane in the warmer-than-usual gulf waters, with sustained winds of 180 mph. As it churned toward Florida for two days as a Category 4 and 5 hurricane, it had plenty of time to explode in size and accumulate water.

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Several towns and cities on both coasts experienced flooding, but preliminary estimates indicate storm surges of 5 to 6 feet in places such as Naples and Fort Myers, much less than the 10 to 15 feet that had been predicted if Milton had directly hit Tampa.

Milton carried sustained winds of 120 mph when it entered Florida and still had 85 mph winds when it left.

Along the way, it tossed around boats and cars, toppled trees, yanked down power lines and shredded the roof of Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, where the Tampa Bay Rays play.

More than 3 million people lost electricity.

Milton spawned outbreaks of strong, long-lasting tornadoes beginning hours before it made landfall on Wednesday.

The National Weather Service tallied 45 reports of tornadoes across the southern half of Florida, from Cocoa Beach to Broward County, with a cluster around the Port St. Lucie area on the Atlantic Coast.

Gov. Ron DeSantis said Wednesday night that Milton spawned at least 19 tornadoes, but a total number won’t be known until damage surveys are completed.

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The Bay Crest Park neighborhood in Town N' Country saw extensive flooding during Hurricane Helene. Neighbors said they saw several feet of water in their homes as the storm passed. But Thomas Duhig told ABC Action News his new hurricane-grade doors, sliders and windows may have protected his home from worse flooding. "It still smells a little funky. My remediation team is starting, they just haven’t chopped the walls up yet," he said as he walked me through the front doors.

TOWN N' COUNTRY, Fla. — The Bay Crest Park neighborhood in Town N' Country saw extensive flooding during Hurricane Helene. Neighbors said they saw several feet of water in their homes as the storm passed.

But Thomas Duhig told ABC Action News his new hurricane-grade doors, sliders and windows may have protected his home from worse flooding.

"It still smells a little funky. My remediation team is starting, they just haven’t chopped the walls up yet," he said as he walked me through the front doors.

He was gracious enough to let my photographer and me into his home to show us how it fared during Hurricane Helene.

"Looking at the news reports, I was thinking, this is it, this is the end of it, it’s not going to get worse," he said. "So, I take a flashlight, and I go out, and I look, and the water was just over the seawall, which is not that threatening.”

A short time later, the power cut, and when he looked again, the water was up to the pool cage. Forty-five minutes after that, he saw waves in his pool, and a water line along his brand-new hurricane-grade sliders showed how high it got.

But, incredibly, "The waterline is there on the outside, but it didn’t get all the way in," I said.

"Dumb luck. I just had these hurricane windows installed and it came in through here through the track. Otherwise, it would’ve been that deep throughout," Thomas said. "Still, I had damage, but it could’ve been much worse."

He had about 8 inches inside instead of 2 feet like many of his neighbors.

"How fortunate do you feel to have replaced your windows and doors before the storm?" I asked Duhig.

"Extremely. Extremely, yeah. And I’ve got to say the incentive was the Florida program, the My Safe Florida. These cost $30,000," he said. "They’re not cheap, and I get it. There’s a lot of engineering into that, but the state paid me $10,000—so win-win, real win!"

Like most in the neighborhood, he’s had to toss out furniture and other personal water-logged belongings, but he said these doors and widows likely saved his home from significantly more damage. Duhig said they were installed around four months ago, and prior to their installation, he had "aluminum clad, you know, the old style."

He was able to file an insurance claim on his phone and he's also working with his insurance agent so he can focus on the house.

Many neighbors told me they’ve never had flooding in their home here before so many didn’t leave. Duhig didn’t evacuate this time, and admits he should have—he told me next time, he’s gone.

"I was pretty nervous when that water was that high, like when is it gonna stop? And then you get flashbacks of Katrina with people climbing into their attic and stuff," he said. "I had a dog here who was unfazed sleeping with his life jacket on. But it gets your brain working."

To learn more about the My Safe Florida Home program, click here.

The massive piles of debris littering communities across the Bay Area are not likely to end soon. We went to Town n Country, Baycrest, and Dana Shores to see how those areas are coming together.

Latest on Helene Aftermath and Recovery from ABC Action News

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WUSF is part of the Florida Public Radio Emergency Network, which provides up-to-the minute weather and news reports during severe weather events on radio, online and on social media for 13 Florida Public Media stations. It’s available on WUSF 89.7 FM, online at WUSF.org and through the free Florida Storms app, which provides geotargeted live forecasts, information about evacuation routes and shelters, and live local radio streams.

WUSF | By Jessica Meszaros

We spoke to folks living in Town 'n' Country impacted by storm surge and found out why this area off Tampa Bay was hit so hard.

Ruth Rodriguez and her husband are busy sweeping the muddy waters off of their kitchen tile and out the front door. Their white cabinets and white refrigerator have dirty watermarks about a foot up from the floor.

"Esto era un rio… rio. Todo dañado... todo," said Rodriguez in Spanish.

This was a river, she said, and everything was damaged.

Residents living in Hillsborough County's primarily Hispanic neighborhood of Town 'n' Country have been cleaning up after historic flooding from Hurricane Helene. The storm swept through Thursday night, pushing 7 feet of storm surge through the streets and into their homes.

Rodriguez has lived in her home on Town 'n’ Country Boulevard off of Hillsborough Avenue for 30 years. She said she’s never seen flooding like this here.

"Primera vez... nunca,” she said.

Law enforcement had to use boats to get rescue people in distress Thursday night into Friday morning.

"We were able to get them to the people that needed us the most. And Town 'n' Country was definitely a big part of that,” said Danny Alvarez, the public information officer for Hillsborough County Fire Rescue.

He said Town 'n' Country, Ruskin and Apollo Beach were the parts of the county most impacted — and they were under mandatory evacuation orders.

Over 300 calls were made to 911 from those areas Thursday night into Friday morning, and over 500 storm victims were rescued between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m.

"We had two separate families that had to seek refuge on their roofs because the inside of their homes are obviously flooded to the point that they were fearing for their lives,” Alvarez said.

Both families were rescued.

Saul Maran, who’s lived on Town 'n' Country Boulevard for 15 years, started to see water creep up to his home around 1 a.m.

“We started making moves to leave the area. Even though it was a very quick flooding situation, we grabbed the essentials… the family, the pets, my baby, and we headed out of here,” Maran said.

He was able to get through the flood waters driving his jeep.

“But a lot of people didn't have the opportunity,” he said.

“This has never been seen to this level. We have seen the water creep to the street and the street flooded, but never come to the houses," he added. "So, this was very, very intense…. they had told us to evacuate or to head out a bit sooner, but this caught a lot of people by surprise.”

Maran said he saw a lot of “chaos” but also witnessed unity.

“A lot of people coming together and helping each other out… communicating, especially to our community,” he said.

Maran said he was able to help translate between the sheriff’s office and his Spanish-speaking neighbors.

Alexis Rivera also helped others escape the rising water by letting eight people and three pets jump onto the back of his pickup to get to higher ground.

Around 2:30 am Friday, when Rivera awoke to the sound of boats riding down the street just outside of his house, which is across from Ruth Rodriguez's.

In the darkness of night, Rivera witnessed local emergency operators rescuing his nearby neighbors from the flood waters.

"I came out here, stood on top of my truck for a little bit to see what was happening. But it kept coming and rising and rising and rising, so I grabbed the whole family and our pets and took off," Rivera said.

Rivera said the same as Maran — even though there were mandatory evacuation orders in place for this area, the neighborhood was caught by surprise.

Danny Alvarez of Hillsborough’s fire rescue team said that in addition to the historic storm surge, there were a few other reasons behind the flooding.

"You can look at drainage issues in the past,” Alvarez said. “We were already pretty saturated with rain and water, that it's just an overwhelming amount of water being dumped in one area, and our systems just aren't able to handle that."

Brian McNoldy, a hurricane researcher for the University of Miami, said it also has to do with the onshore winds blowing from west to east at the tail end of Helene.

"That's when the water starts getting bulldozed onto land,” McNoldy said.

And then, of course, there’s sea level rise. It’s caused by the combination of melted glaciers and ice sheets and the thermal expansion of seawater as it warms. The waters are warming because of human-induced fossil fuel pollution, which traps heat into the atmosphere.

Over the past 30 years, the waters surrounding the Tampa area have gone up about 6.9 inches.

"Sea level rise definitely does play a role in how much flooding a hurricane can create through with its storm surge, because you're adding that storm surge onto an increasing baseline,” McNoldy said.

That helps to partially explain why people like Saul Maran, Alexis Rivera, and Ruth Rodriguez witnessed this kind of surge for the first time on their home street.

But that's not the worst of it for Rodriguez — she just recently canceled her home insurance because it was too expensive.

When asked what's going to happen now, Rodriguez said, "Lo que papa Dios quiera."

It's up to God, she said.

WUSF is part of the Florida Public Radio Emergency Network, which provides up-to-the minute weather and news reports during severe weather events on radio, online and on social media for 13 Florida Public Media stations. It’s available on WUSF 89.7 FM, online at WUSF.org and through the free Florida Storms app, which provides geotargeted live forecasts, information about evacuation routes and shelters, and live local radio streams.

WUSF | By Carl Lisciandrello

The Category 4 storm was predicted to cause catastrophic storm surge across Florida's west coast. Photos from around the region show the flooding that ensued.

Hurricane Helene made landfall as a Category 4 storm Thursday night in Florida's Big Bend region.

And although the storm did not take a direct hit on the Tampa Bay area, it produced a storm surge that closed bridges, flooded roads, and surge that inundated coastal areas — especially in Pinellas County.

Here's a sampling of the impact Helene left behind.

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Damage in Madeira Beach from Hurricane Helene on Sept. 27, 2024.

Stephanie Colombini / WUSF

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Damage in Madeira Beach from Hurricane Helene on Sept. 27, 2024.

Stephanie Colombini / WUSF

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Damage in Madeira Beach from Hurricane Helene on Sept. 27, 2024.

Stephanie Colombini / WUSF

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A look at the flooding in Tarpon Springs from Hurricane Helene on Sept. 27, 2024.

Steve Newborn / WUSF

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A look at the flooding in Tarpon Springs from Hurricane Helene on Sept. 27, 2024.

Steve Newborn / WUSF

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A look at the flooding in Tarpon Springs from Hurricane Helene on Sept. 27, 2024.

Steve Newborn / WUSF

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A look at the flooding in Tarpon Springs from Hurricane Helene on Sept. 27, 2024.

Steve Newborn / WUSF

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Flooding in Town 'N Country following Hurricane Helene on Sept. 27, 2024.

Jessica Meszaros / WUSF

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Flooding in Town 'N Country following Hurricane Helene on Sept. 27, 2024.

Jessica Meszaros / WUSF

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Flooding in Town 'N Country following Hurricane Helene on Sept. 27, 2024.

Jessica Meszaros / WUSF

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Flooding in Indian Shores following Hurricane Helene on Sept. 27, 2024.

Stephanie Colombini / WUSF

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Flooding in Indian Shores following Hurricane Helene on Sept. 27, 2024.

Stephanie Colombini / WUSF

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Flooding in Indian Shores following Hurricane Helene on Sept. 27, 2024.

Stephanie Colombini / WUSF

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Flooding in Indian Shores following Hurricane Helene on Sept. 27, 2024.

Stephanie Colombini / WUSF

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Flooding in Indian Shores following Hurricane Helene on Sept. 27, 2024.

Stephanie Colombini / WUSF

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Flooding in Indian Shores following Hurricane Helene on Sept. 27, 2024.

Stephanie Colombini / WUSF

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Flooding in Indian Shores following Hurricane Helene on Sept. 27, 2024.

Stephanie Colombini / WUSF

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The after-effects of Hurricane Helene in Safety Harbor, including the pier at Safety Harbor Waterfront Park, which was destroyed.

Carl Lisciandrello / WUSF

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The after-effects of Hurricane Helene in Safety Harbor, including the pier at Safety Harbor Waterfront Park, which was destroyed.

Carl Lisciandrello / WUSF

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The after-effects of Hurricane Helene in Safety Harbor, including the pier at Safety Harbor Waterfront Park, which was destroyed.

Carl Lisciandrello / WUSF

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The after-effects of Hurricane Helene in Safety Harbor, including the pier at Safety Harbor Waterfront Park, which was destroyed.

Carl Lisciandrello / WUSF

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The after-effects of Hurricane Helene in Safety Harbor, including the pier at Safety Harbor Waterfront Park, which was destroyed.

Carl Lisciandrello / WUSF

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The after-effects of Hurricane Helene in Safety Harbor, including the pier at Safety Harbor Waterfront Park, which was destroyed.

Carl Lisciandrello / WUSF

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The after-effects of Hurricane Helene in Safety Harbor, including the pier at Safety Harbor Waterfront Park, which was destroyed.

Carl Lisciandrello / WUSF

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The after-effects of Hurricane Helene in Safety Harbor, including the pier at Safety Harbor Waterfront Park, which was destroyed.

Carl Lisciandrello / WUSF

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Flooding and damage along Belleair Causeway from Hurricane Helene on Sept. 27, 2024.

Stephanie Colombini / WUSF

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Flooding and damage along Belleair Causeway from Hurricane Helene on Sept. 27, 2024.

Stephanie Colombini / WUSF

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Flooding and damage along Belleair Causeway from Hurricane Helene on Sept. 27, 2024.

Stephanie Colombini / WUSF

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Flooding and damage along Belleair Causeway from Hurricane Helene on Sept. 27, 2024.

Stephanie Colombini / WUSF

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Flooding and damage along Belleair Causeway from Hurricane Helene on Sept. 27, 2024.

Stephanie Colombini / WUSF

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Flooding and damage along Belleair Causeway from Hurricane Helene on Sept. 27, 2024.

Stephanie Colombini / WUSF

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Flooding and damage along Belleair Causeway from Hurricane Helene on Sept. 27, 2024.

Stephanie Colombini / WUSF

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Flooding along the Tampa Riverwalk following Hurricane Helene on Sept. 27, 2024.

Mark Scantlebury / WUSF

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Flooding along the Tampa Riverwalk following Hurricane Helene on Sept. 27, 2024.

Mark Scantlebury / WUSF

Tags

Weather Hurricane Helene2024 Atlantic Hurricane SeasonPinellas Beaches