Duke Energy staged 8,000 crew members to respond to outages ahead of the storm, with about 4,000 in the Villages that can respond around Tampa Bay or further north, as needed. Helene is expected to pass Tampa Bay on Thursday afternoon and make landfall in the Big Bend region by the evening.

Hurricane Helene began flooding streets in St. Petersburg on Thursday morning at Bayou Grande and 62nd Avenue. Fire crews battled a large fire in South Pasadena, just one of the many calls they responded to late Thursday and early Friday.

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — First responders across Tampa Bay began rescue efforts following Hurricane Helene’s landfall overnight. Tampa Mayor Jane Castor said crews have been busy responding to emergency calls, mainly focused on Davis Island, receiving nearly 200 calls since 2 a.m.