The Brief
Tampa Bay communities are still recovering two years after Hurricane Helene brought destructive storm surge to the region.
University of South Florida researchers are using lessons from Helene to strengthen beaches and dunes against future storms.
Local leaders and business owners say the storm reinforced the importance of evacuating early.
TAMPA, Fla. – Saturday marks two years since Hurricane Helene tore through the Tampa Bay area, leaving a trail of coastal destruction that permanently altered local storm preparation and beach restoration strategies.
Clearwater storm response
What we know
Clearwater Mayor Bruce Rector vividly remembers the night of September 26, 2024, as the storm surge flooded local streets while panicked residents called for help.
“I had friends of mine in Clearwater Beach almost in tears,” he said. “Grown men asking what to do with water coming up in their driveways. By then, it was too late.”
The mayor noted that many residents had not previously experienced such severe coastal flooding.
“We really hadn’t experienced the significant pain that comes with a hurricane,” Rector said. “I think that that woke a lot of people up.”
Coastal defense research
Why you should care
Researchers at the University of South Florida are actively applying lessons from the storm to protect coastal communities against future surge events.
Professor Ping Wang from the USF School of Geosciences is analyzing how rebuilding higher dunes and wider beaches creates better defenses.
“When we build our beach, we’ll make the beach a little bit taller,” he said. “A little wider and we focus a bit more on the dune.”
Local business impact
Local perspective
In St. Petersburg, local businesses continue to feel the economic ripple effects of the storm surge two years later.
3 Daughters Brewing founder Mike Harting observed that while some venues have reopened, many beachside accounts have not returned to pre-storm levels.
“We’ve seen them come back slowly but surely,” he said. “I can tell you that the number of accounts that we service down the beaches is not what it was two years and a day ago.”
Evacuation safety priorities
What we don’t know
Officials cannot predict the intensity of future storms, although the experience fundamentally changed how local leaders and residents approach evacuation orders. Harting emphasized that safety must take priority over property when severe weather threatens the coast.
“Whatever mother nature wants to do, she’s going to do,” he concluded. “We can come back and rebuild it but when things like this come along, we should leave.”
The Source
Information for this story came from interviews with the Mayor of Clearwater, the founder of 3 Daughters Brewing, a University of South Florida geosciences professor and previous reporting on FOX 13.