09/26/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 09/26/2024 17:53
September 26, 2024 - The City of St. Petersburg is feeling the impacts of Hurricane Helene. Mayor Welch provided a media briefing at 5:30 p.m. Below is a recap:
Hurricane Helene is currently passing the Tampa Bay area as a Category 4 storm. Throughout the evening, we'll continue to see the storm's intensity and its impacts as it moves past our area.
The City is still anticipating unprecedented levels of storm surge between 5' - 8' feet.
Right now, we're expecting the highest level of storm surge to peak around midnight.
We've also begun to receive calls about high-water rescues. Please remember, first responders will conduct search and rescue missions as conditions permit.
Shelter in place: If you live in Zone A and have not evacuated, you need to shelter in place. Overnight, the storm conditions will continue to worsen.
Stay off the road: Do not drive through flooded streets.
Limited water usage: Please reduce your water usage on Thursday and Friday.
Electric Vehicles: Do not drive through flooded waters in an EV vehicle or attempt to charge an EV vehicle if it has been exposed to water. There is a high-risk of battery fire.
This impacts residents that live north of 30th Avenue N and east of Haines Road. (See below map for reference).
There is a possibility our Northeast Water Reclamation Facility may have to go offline.
If this occurs, some residents will not be able to take showers, do laundry, or flush toilets, etc.
If it looks certain that the storm surge will reach 7' feet at the plant, which is an unprecedented amount of storm surge, we'll have to make a decision to turn the plant off to ensure we can resume water service after the storm.
It could take a minimum of 48 hours to resume plant operations after it's turned off due to the need to carefully inspect the plant and make any repairs before restarting.
This is the only facility we anticipate being impacted by storm surge.
DO NOT panic. We have not made this decision to shut down the sewer treatment plant yet. We wanted to prepare residents in case this happens.
DO NOT drain your water. You WILL have running water, but DO NOT let it go down the drain - it will back up your sewer system. Fill up water bottles and brush your teeth outside or over a container.
DO NOT flush toilets.
DO NOT use your shower or bathtub.
DO NOT run the dishwasher.
DO NOT use your washing machine to wash your clothes.
Sign up for Alert St. Pete at pinellas.gov/alert. View the latest storm information from the National Hurricane Center at nhc.noaa.gov.
Follow @StPeteFL on social media channels for storm updates specific to St. Pete.