VENICE — As Hurricane Helene made its way through the Gulf to eventual landfall in the Big Bend area Thursday night, public safety officials warned the main threat it posed locally was storm surge.
They were right.
Although Helene brought the high winds and heavy rain that are part of every tropical storm, on Friday morning areas that typically flood from rain or suffer extensive wind damage hadn’t.
But people were being rescued from areas of the island that experienced several feet of storm surge, while those where the water had surged and receded were dealing with the muddy aftermath.
Many were in areas where people had been urged to evacuate.
“I have not seen storm surge like I saw yesterday,” Police Chief Charlie Thorpe said.
He said he was at Chauncey Howard Park, along the Esplanade, when the surge picked up around 4:30 p.m. Officers went knocking on doors in the low-lying area, urging people to evacuate, he said.
He said he’s grateful for those who did, because city personnel would spend much of the next 16 hours “dealing with people who probably wished they would have.”