A Florida man turned to an unexpected survival tactic during Hurricane Helene as he paddled around his flooded living room in a kayak. Matt Heller, a Tampa resident, captured the moment in a now-viral video showing him navigating the floodwaters inside his home as a historic storm surge inundated the area.
Kayaking through a living room
Heller had prepared the kayak as part of an “escape plan” in case the storm intensified. However, he never expected to need it inside his own house. Speaking to CNN, Heller explained, “The kayak was my escape plan in case stuff got too hairy, we could get out. I didn’t think I was gonna need it in my living room.”
The video, posted on TikTok, shows the floodwaters quickly rising through the cracks of his home as the storm surged through Tampa Bay. At its peak, the water level reached around four feet, according to Heller’s estimate.
A viral storm surge experience
The footage quickly gained traction online, amassing thousands of views within hours of being posted. Viewers were stunned as Heller paddled through his living room, lights still on despite the rising water. “I was floating around, I was surprised the power stayed on for as long as it did,” he said, adding that power was eventually lost, forcing him to rely on candles.
Heller, who founded the automotive train horn company HornBlasters, recounted how the storm initially felt manageable. “Helene’s impact started real slowly,” Heller said. But soon, conditions worsened. “All of a sudden the storm just kind of came in and [the water’s] been rising and rising. It came out of nowhere.”
Record storm surge in Tampa Bay
Before the flooding, Heller took his TikTok Live viewers on a tour of his waterfront property in Hillsborough County. He opened his garage door, letting floodwater pour inside—a moment he quickly regretted, saying, “That was a bad idea, we’re gonna close it. Why would I open that?”
Tampa Bay faced record storm surges during Hurricane Helene, with water levels in the East Bay neighborhood reaching as high as 7.19 feet, according to local reports. Other areas saw similarly catastrophic flooding, with water rising between 6.15 and 6.78 feet.
Impact on the community
The storm surge from Hurricane Helene prompted widespread flooding across Tampa, with institutions like Tampa General Hospital resorting to emergency measures. A water-impermeable barrier, capable of withstanding up to 15 feet of storm surge, was deployed to protect the hospital located on Davis Islands, surrounded by Hillsborough Bay.
Helene made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane on Thursday evening near Florida’s Big Bend region. By early Friday morning, the storm had been downgraded to a Category 2 as it moved into Georgia. Despite the downgrade, Helene has left a significant mark on Florida, leaving millions without power and causing at least three confirmed deaths.
While Heller and his kayak have become symbols of the storm’s severity, his experience underscores the unpredictable and destructive nature of Hurricane Helene’s storm surge.