ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — As Hurricane Helene inches closer to Tampa Bay, many in evacuation zones are packing up and getting out of the area.

What You Need To Know

  • Residents in Shore Acres are preparing their homes before leaving for safer areas ahead of Hurricane Helene

  • There are six emergency shelters in Pinellas County open for the hurricane 

  • Two shelters are in St. Petersburg at Gibbs High School and John Hopkins Middle School

One of those areas is the Shore Acres neighborhood, where residents like John Rummel are preparing their homes for potential flooding and making sure their belongings are in safe places.

“The predictions have been pretty consistent, so I just want to stick with being safe,” he said.  

Rummel said in the three years he and his family have been living in the area, flooding has been common.

He said that’s why he’s doing whatever he can to protect his home before leaving the area.

“Not worried about the winds,” he said. “Winds are kind of manageable, but the surge is what has always been an issue in this area.”

Mitchell Palmer is another person getting ready to leave his neighborhood.

He works for Park Electric and said he is expecting to take care of a lot of storm restoration in the coming days. But first, Palmer said he is making sure his home is secure.

“Picking anything up in the garage that could get wet that I don’t want to get wet,” he said. “Elevating it and taking it out of the way.”

There are six shelters open in Pinellas County with two of them in St. Petersburg at Gibbs High School and John Hopkins Middle School.