Pinellas towns ‘hammered’ by Hurricane Helene

MADIERA BEACH, Fla. - Hurricane Helene’s storm surge washed ashore along Pinellas County from both the Gulf of Mexico and Tampa Bay, filling streets and flooding homes on both sides of the county.

Madeira Beach

The west coast of Pinellas bore the brunt of Helene’s power as the storm headed for a Big Bend landfall. The scene in Madeira Beach was an "ugly situation" Friday morning, according to fishing captain Dylan Hubbard.

"John’s Pass is pretty hammered here. There’s some pretty serious destruction behind the pass," Hubbard told FOX 13 as building alarms blared behind him. 

Hubbard described a scene of widespread flooding that left debris behind and whole walls blown out of the buildings around the John’s Pass community.

"This is historical. I’ve never seen so much damage, so much flooding," he continued. "The water came in so fast, so extremely quickly."

Treasure Island

The Pinellas barrier islands were inaccessible Friday morning, but emergency officials shared video of boats piled upon other boats in the yards along Treasure Island.

Palm Harbor

Ozona Shores Marina 

The scene at Ozona Shores Marina in Palm Harbor was similar. Even after sunrise Friday morning, some docks were still submerged and boats upon boats were piled on each other.

Early estimates at that location were 40 to 60 boats tossed onto their sides or each other in the water.

Ozona Shores Marina 

One owner said his boat had been docked at Frenchy’s in Dunedin – nearly a mile south – but was missing. He later spotted it among the mess at the marina in Palm Harbor.

"It was on the third deck and then they had it on pontoons. The water got higher than they expected and so it floated off," Robert Pearson told FOX 13 News.

Tow trucks are on the scene to assist with the cleanup.

Shore Acres 

On the other side of the county, the neighborhood of Shore Acres is prone to flooding but residents there way they’ve never seen it this bad.

"It looked like houses on rivers when there’s not supposed to be a river there. It’s like the houses that are there are just islands. There are no roads or anything. It kind of just looks like march. It’s scary. For as far as the eye can see," drone operator Kris Clayton offered.

There was not an immediate tally of flooded homes, but 1,200 homes were damaged during Hurricane Idalia last year, which was less powerful than Helene.

At least two house fires were burning Friday morning; at least one was extinguished by firefighters but then reignited, according to neighbors.

FULL STORY: Homes in Shore Acres destroyed by Hurricane Helene, flood-prone neighborhood getting first look at damage