🌀 What Helene wrought

It's Friday. We hope you're safe and dry.

Mostly sunny. 88°/77°.

📍 Situational awareness: We'll be out in the community today to cover the damage from Helene.

• If you know of a place that was hit hard, have a storm story to share or any tips about lingering trouble, email tampa@axios.com.
• And keep an eye on our live blog again today for updates.

🎂 Happy early birthday to our Axios Tampa Bay member Katie Mattison!

Today's newsletter is 898 words, a 3-minute read.

Hundreds of thousands of homes are without power. Many are flooded.

• Streets are impassible. Emergency services are inundated with pleas for help.
• And reports of people fleeing from overnight surge are still pouring in.

State of play: The morning after Hurricane Helene's deadly drive-by assault on Tampa Bay, the region awakes to widespread destruction. The full extent of the storm's wrath will take days to determine.

The latest: As forecasters feared, the Category 4 behemoth saved its worst for late in the evening, when storm surge peaked and sent a flood of Gulf water into homes across the coast as residents fled.

• Flooding prompted St. Petersburg to power down a sewage treatment plant and urge residents between 30th Avenue North and Haines Road not to shower, drain water, flush toilets or do laundry.
• It will take at least two days to restore the system, officials said. Water in the affected area is still safe to drink.

About 230,000 Duke Energy customers in the St. Petersburg and Clearwater areas are without power as of this morning. Tampa Electric reports about 78,000 outages.

The big picture: Clearwater, St. Petersburg and coastal areas of Tampa all saw major flooding overnight, according to the National Weather Service.

• Every tidal gauge in the region topped record high levels of surge.

Storm surge peaks, by the numbers:

• 7.2 feet in East Bay
• 6.8 feet in Old Port Tampa
• 6.5 feet in Clearwater Beach
• 6.3 feet in St. Petersburg.

Surge levels in Pinellas were several feet above those recorded during Hurricane Idalia, which flooded 1,500 homes in the county.

The Alafia River saw water reaching 9.4 feet at 1am Friday while nearby residents waded out of flooded homes carrying their pets and belongings to higher ground, according to the Tampa Bay Times.

• A moat of water surrounded Tampa General Hospital as Davis Islands roads flooded, per footage published by WFLA.
• Palmetto Beach residents swam to safety after their homes were inundated. "We lost it all … this hurricane definitely wiped my family off the map here," resident John Broderick told the Times .

Gov. Ron DeSantis said a driver on Interstate 4 was killed near Ybor City "when a sign fell onto the highway," apparently the storm's first known fatality. The person has not been publicly identified.

Police posted videos online of overnight high-water rescues in Clearwater, with officers guiding residents through waist-high water.

• Desperate for help, many turned to social media to plead for loved ones in peril, according to WFLA. "My sister, her husband, and two dogs are on the roof," a woman posted in a Madeira Beach Facebook group.

What's next: Officials will begin conducting damage assessments this morning as the work to calculate Helene's true cost begins.

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Helene tore into the Big Bend as a Category 4 storm — the strongest hurricane ever recorded to hit the area.

The big picture: The deadly hurricane made landfall near Perry in rural Taylor County, unleashing an unprecedented 15- to 20-foot storm surge.

• The sheriff's office warned those who refused to evacuate to "write your name, birthday, and important information on your arm or leg in a PERMANENT MARKER so that you can be identified."

Zoom in: Tallahassee dodged a direct hit from the storm but still felt its impact.

• Leon County Administrator Vince Long told the Tallahassee Democrat that while there are reports of fallen trees on structures, no widespread damage to buildings occurred.
• The full extent of the damage in Leon County will become clear once assessments begin at dawn, Long said.

Suwannee County, east of Tallahassee, suffered "extensive damage," with fallen trees, downed powerlines and severe damage to buildings and homes, the sheriff's office said in a Facebook post.

• "We're fearing the worst when the sun comes up."

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Tampa Theatre's "A Nightmare on Franklin Street" offers 21 nights of premium heebie-jeebies.

This year's all-new lineup features classic horror films, creepy cult favorites, spooky specialty screenings and "Mummy & Me" family-friendly films.

Find times, titles and tickets.

🤒 U.S. households can order four free COVID-19 tests from the federal government with the Sept. 26 relaunch of the at-home test distribution program. (Axios)

🏈 Coming off a disappointing loss, the Bucs face a major test this weekend when they host a talented Philadelphia Eagles team that has hopes for a deep playoff run. Kickoff is 1pm Sunday on FOX. (Buccaneers.com)

⚽️ Three international players are set to make their debut for the Tampa Bay Sun against Carolina Ascent FC in Charlotte, North Carolina, after a month-long process to obtain visas. (Tampa Bay Times)

🚊 Amtrak announced a temporary route between Chicago and Miami, with stops in Tampa and Orlando, to name a few. (WFLA)

🤝Join in on the fun around Tampa Bay.

Soirée of Hope at The Centre Club on October 3: The most hopeful night of the year, join Lutheran Services Florida as they showcase the life-changing impact of LSF on children and families in Tampa Bay.

Want your event here? Email local-events@axios.com.

Helene is gone from Tampa Bay but potential hazards may remain.

Here are some tips on how to stay safe as you venture back outside today, with guidance from the National Weather Service.

• If you evacuated, don't go back home until you're told it's safe.
• When driving, avoid flooded roads and watch for unsafe conditions, like downed power lines, trees or debris, which can puncture tires.
• If you're at home, give your house's exterior a careful survey, looking for loose cables, damage and leaks.
• Don't stay in a home with a gas smell, standing floodwater or fire damage.
• If your power is out, use flashlights and not candles.

And then there's the big one: Do not, under any circumstances, run a portable generator inside your house or garage.

• Per NWS, "Carbon monoxide poisoning is one of the leading causes of death after storms in areas dealing with power outages."

Who sits in seat 308? Where did Robert Lanier tear his final ticket? What led to Tampa Theatre being known as one of the most haunted buildings in town?

Tampa Theatre's ghost tours share stories of the historic movie palace's ghostly guests, preternatural patrons and eternal employees.

Join in.

🚓 Kathryn is on a ride-along with deputies assessing the damage in Pinellas County.

🔎 Yacob is surveying the damage in Hillsborough County.

This newsletter was edited by Jeff Weiner and Kristen Hinman.