Tampa Bay area - Latest update on Helene clean-up

Hurricane Helene made landfall miles away from Tampa Bay and the center also stayed miles away from the Metro area, but residents are realizing the vulnerability of the area to storm surge.

Our Weather Reporter, Jonathan Petramala, has been documenting the clean-up efforts across the Florida Big Bend and down into Tampa Bay. Hurricane Helene only made landfall one week ago and millions across the Southeast are dealing with life-changing impacts.

Hundreds of thousands are still without power across the Southeast. More than 16,000 customers are still in the dark in Florida, and all are dealing with hot and humid upper 80s as seen on the TemperatureRadar.

Tons and tons of sand have been plowed after Helene pushed in several feet of storm surge into the Tampa Bay area. The barrier islands and low-lying areas of Pinellas County, where Tampa Bay is, were in evacuation zone A, which was under a mandatory evacuation with forecast storm surge heights of 8 feet. 12 people have been confirmed dead within this evacuation zone.

Helene has come and gone, but it's still Atlantic Hurricane Season and we have 58 more days of it. Have your hurricane alerts switched on as well as an emergency plan for you and your family.