A shocking video shows cars driving in the midst of major flooding on the Howard Frankland Bridge bridge in Tampa, Bay, Florida, as Hurricane Helene bombarded the southeastern region of the United States overnight, leaving six dead and 3 million without power.
Meteorologist Merry Matthews shared a video on X, formerly Twitter, of cars continuing to drive on a bridge in Tampa Bay, Florida, on Thursday despite major flooding on the bridge caused by Hurricane Helene. “Storm Surge at Howard Frankland Bridge in Tampa Bay,” Matthews tweeted. “They kept this bridge open far too long. Wow! It has since been closed.”
Bay News 9 anchor Jeff Butera also shared the video of cars driving on the Howard Frankland Bridge in Tampa Bay. Prior to the bridge being closed, he wrote, “I’m STUNNED they have not closed the Howard Frankland Bridge in Tampa Bay.”
In response to the video, one user wrote, “Who in their right mind would be out driving in this storm. I Definitely would not be crossing that bridge.” Another user commented, “It remaining open is one thing, but the bigger question is WHY are people driving on a bridge during a live hurricane in the hot zone?” Meanwhile, a third user argued that someone “dropped the ball” on closing the Tampa Bay bridge.
Roughly a half hour after posting the video, Butera shared an update regarding the bridge, saying, “Closed now — closed about 30 mins after I posted.”
READ MORE: Viral videos: House collapses, floats away amid hurricane
According to The New York Post, Hurricane Helene made landfall at roughly 11:10 p.m. in Florida on Thursday. The Associated Press noted that the hurricane was listed as a major Category 4 storm and that weather forecasters warned that the hurricane could cause a “nightmare” storm surge throughout a significant portion of the southeastern United States.
The National Hurricane Center downgraded the hurricane to a tropical storm early Friday morning. However, The New York Post reported that six people had already been confirmed dead, and approximately three million people were left without power as a result of the storm.
In a Friday morning update, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) said state personnel conducted “hundreds of search and rescue missions” and provided assistance for roughly one thousand other search and rescue missions in the “immediate aftermath of Hurricane Helene.”
“There are over a million accounts without power in the state, but over a million have already been restored thanks to resources staged ahead of the storm,” DeSantis said. “Cut and toss operations have been underway by 61 FDOT crews since 3AM. Over 2,000 miles of roadway have been cleared, and these operations continue.”
