By The Diary
27 Sep 2024, 08:44 AM EDT
A man in Tampa Bay, Florida, decided to use his kayak as a means to make his way through the flooding that Hurricane Helene left in his home.
Videos from home security cameras show Matt Heller paddling in his flooded living room.
The resident told CNN that this was his strategy when the storm surge caused by Helene came to the residence out of nowhere.
“The storm started slow, and all of a sudden, the water started coming in and going up, up,” he said.
Heller added that the water level rose about 4 feet, probably over a period of an hour and a half.
The victim said that, although the kayak was the escape plan in case things got too dangerous, he didn’t think he would have to use it in the living room.
Because Heller lost the power connection, he had to use candles in the middle of the interview with the television station.
Despite the tension and inconvenience of the moment, the Floridian managed to share several videos on TikTok, some live.
In one of the recordings, Heller is seen in the kayak while simultaneously handling his cell phone.
At that time, the home still had electricity service.
In the background, the song “Storm Coming” by Once Monsters plays.
Last night, Helene made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane in the Big Bend region.
In the Tampa Bay area, the system left significant coastal flooding overnight.
In Palmetto Beach, some residents had to swim to escape the storm surge caused by Helene, which was downgraded to a tropical storm this morning.
In the case of Tampa General Hospital, officials installed an AquaFence waterproof barrier around the building to stem the tide.
Images taken by a local employee captured water near the hospital.
This morning, Helene is moving into the interior of the state of Georgia as a tropical storm after weakening after making landfall in Florida.
However, strong winds and rain, as well as storm surge, will continue to affect those states, as well as North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and Alabama.
Keep reading:
Helene weakens into a tropical storm as it moves toward Georgia
Helene fatalities in Florida and Georgia rise to three