A raging river of Gulf of Mexico water ripped through the heart of Madeira Beach just minutes after deputes blocked access to Pinellas County’s barrier islands at 6 p.m. Thursday. It would be dusk by the time these densely populated islands would start facing the peak of Hurricane Helene’s storm surge,

Hurricane Helene continued to strengthen as it neared Florida's gulf coast Thursday. The storm is expected to bring historic flooding to the Southeast, with potential storm surges of up to 20 feet. Manuel Bojorquez has the latest from Tampa Bay.

Meteorologists warned Tampa Bay residents that Helene's storm surge could reach 5 to 8 feet in flood-prone areas.

Hurricane Helene made landfall in Florida’s Big Bend as a Category 4 storm late Thursday, knocking out power in over a million homes and businesses and causing at least one death in the state as the National Hurricane Center warned of life threatening winds and catastrophic storm surges.

Hurricane Helene has brought life-threatening storm surge to Florida. Video shows drivers trying to cross the Tampa Bay bridge before it was closed. Ocean water appears to almost overtake the entire bridge.

Hurricane Helene, expected to make landfall as a major hurricane in Florida’s Big Bend region Thursday, could bring life-threatening storm surge to much of the state’s west coast. Federal forecasters have issued surge predictions in Tampa Bay higher than the region has seen in recent history.

Helene has strengthened into a hurricane with forecasters warning that the storm would intensify as it crosses the Gulf of Mexico on a path to Florida.

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Hurricane Helene could bring record-level water levels and storm surge to Tampa Bay. Helene is continuing to strengthen and the winds picking up the water are producing roughly 50-foot waves in the Gulf.

Helene's winds and storm surge could be worse that expected in the Tampa Bay area, according to Bob Weisberg, a professor emerita of oceanography at USF's College of Marine Science.