Storm chaser Leslie Hudson reported live from rising floodwaters in Tampa hours ahead of Helene's landfall on the evening of Sept. 26.
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00:00Continuing our team coverage right now is Accuweather correspondent Leslie Hudson.
00:05That's right, she joins us right now from Tampa, Florida with the latest. So Leslie,
00:09yeah we're tracking the latest. You're seeing the latest. Give us an update on
00:12what you're seeing. Yeah it's pretty incredible where we are. So we're at
00:19Gitcher Berries. We're in Gulfport. This is one of the lower line areas in this
00:25part of Pinellas and Hillsborough counties. They kind of straddle, but as
00:28you can see it is very high, this surge. I can't even get it further down there
00:33because I'm already up to the top of my waders. But look over here. You can see
00:38that roof. It just came off right when we were walking out here to get this live
00:42shot. So that roof right there, it's small, but again, no match for the wind and it continues to just really pump us down here.
00:52We shot some video earlier, about an hour ago, and the bay is just down there to the end, right over behind where it says Gulfport Casino.
01:02So that is where there's about 30 boats and about five of those boats, or six maybe, have already become unmoored and are moved.
01:13Now when Debbie came through here, remember they didn't get a direct hit either,
01:17about two dozen boats came off of their moorings and we're expecting it to get worse here tonight.
01:23The welcome here, say probably 10 p.m. to 11 p.m., maybe as late as midnight, will be the height of that onshore flow.
01:31So they're really concerned how many more boats will become unmoored in just this area.
01:36I can tell you in the Tampa area where we are, the major roads, the two bridges, the two major bridges, the Franklin Bridge,
01:45they're shut down, so you cannot get off the island, at least with those two bridges.
01:50One of the other main bridges is open, but the wind here easily sustains 50.
01:56We're getting a pretty good gust right now.
01:58Very difficult to stand and of course, again, anticipating worse weather in the coming hours.
02:06So we'll wait and see what else Olean has.
02:09A lot of folks did stay. We've seen tourists here taking pictures.
02:13You're not supposed to be out here, of course, and expecting more intense weather for the next couple of hours.
02:19They think the worst window is right now until about 10 p.m.
02:23For now, we are reporting live in Gulfport, Florida.
02:26I'm Leslie Hutchin. Back to you.
02:28Thanks, Leslie. Take a look at that current.
02:31That is so impressive.
02:33Leslie, keep safe out there and thanks for joining us here on AccuWeather Ahead.