As Tony Powell, 61, got ready to survey his neighborhood in Crystal River, Fla., about 80 miles north of Tampa, on Thursday morning, he opted to make his rounds on two wheels.
His bicycle was the best way to go, he said, because every other mode of transportation had been tied down or parked away in anticipation of Hurricane Helene. “That’s all you can do — get things out of harm’s way,” he said.
He was one of several residents along Florida’s Gulf Coast who have relied on pedal power to get around before Hurricane Helene makes landfall on Thursday night.
Bicycles may be an obvious choice for people who want to get around their neighborhoods nimbly and without fuel. But Florida officials have warned those who are not evacuating to hunker down somewhere safe and dry, especially once Helene makes landfall, bringing record-breaking storm surges that are expected to inundate communities along the Gulf Coast.
Before conditions get worse, Alex and Raven Kramer and their four children — ages 3 to 8 — decided to bike a mile from their home in Gulfport, near Tampa, to see the beach on Thursday morning. They wanted to check out the water and see whether there was any trace of the storm yet.
“It’s crazy,” said their 6-year-old son, Zeb. Clouds were encroaching on blue skies overhead, and he could see that water was beginning to surge onto the streets.
The family chose bikes instead of cars because everyone could see better that way and because they wanted to get a little exercise in before being cooped up for the worst of the storm. The ride was also a learning opportunity for the children, said their parents, both 32. Lesson No. 1: No driving in floodwater — period — even if you are on two wheels.
Other cyclists in Gulfport were not quite so strict, pedaling right through Helene’s early surge.
Joe Powless, 43, and his wife, Steph, 39, rode their bikes along streets that looked increasingly like streams, with water up to their ankles. They live in a low-lying zone that was under mandatory evacuation orders, but they said that they planned to stay, alongside most of their neighbors.
“It’s just so common,” Mr. Powless said of flooding in the area.
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