This Florida man has taken channel surfing to a whole new level.
Matt Heller is seen paddling through his flooded Tampa living room in the kayak he intended to use as an “escape plan” as Hurricane Helen's historic storm surge “came out of nowhere.” It was captured in stunning footage on camera.
The intrepid Floridian documented the rising waters in a viral TikTok video, showing off the moments inside his dry home before water seeped through a crack.
“The kayak was my evacuation plan so I could get out if things got bad,” Heller said. he told CNN. “I never thought I'd need one in my living room.”
Heller estimated the water level rose to at least 4 feet as storm surge rushed into his home.
The man took shelter in a purple and white kayak he had nearby in case of an emergency, and began paddling around his home, where the lights were still on, the paper said. A video he posted.
The video quickly became a viral hit, garnering around 12,000 views in the first three hours.
“I was floating and I was surprised that the power lasted so long,” he added.
But Heller soon lost power and used candles to light her home.
Heller, founder of the car train horn company Hornblasters, recalled that Helen's impact on Florida started “really slowly,” but the situation became serious fairly quickly.
“Suddenly a storm came, [the waters] It’s going up and up,” he told the outlet. “It suddenly appeared out of nowhere and rose about 4 feet from nothing within probably an hour and a half.”
Heller recalled that although his area of Tampa Bay didn't get much rain, winds and storm surge brought water into his home.
“We’ve had an inch of water here and there, but never like this,” he said. “This is definitely the biggest flood we've ever seen.”
Before the massive floodwaters invaded her home, Heller took her TikTok Live viewers on a tour of her waterfront property in Hillsborough County.
He opened the garage door to reveal dirt-filled water pouring inside.
“Now watch this,” Heller said in a video posted to the social media site. “That was a bad idea and I'm done with it. Why open it?”
After finally closing the garage door, Heller showed water flooding into his home from a crack in the door frame and a back room overlooking a large body of water.
“The water is over the sea wall. The boat will probably be in the backyard within minutes,” Heller said, half-jokingly.
Tampa General Hospital is water impermeable barrier A fence was placed around the building to stop the storm surge.
The barrier is designed to withstand storm surges of up to 15 feet and was created by Aquafence to protect the property, which is located on the Davis Islands, surrounded by Hillsboro Bay.
A maximum storm surge of 7.19 feet was recorded in the East Bay, and record flooding was observed in the Tampa Bay area.
In other areas, water levels rose between 6.15 feet and 6.78 feet. According to WTSP.
Officials previously said It warned residents that storm surge heights could range from 5 to 8 feet.
Hurricane Helen made landfall in the Big Bend area of Florida as a Category 4 storm Thursday around 11 p.m.
It entered Georgia early Friday morning and was downgraded to a Category 2 storm.
The storm left millions without power and killed at least three people.
