Duke Energy staged 8,000 crew members to respond to outages ahead of the storm, with about 4,000 in the Villages that can respond around Tampa Bay or further north, as needed. Helene is expected to pass Tampa Bay over the course of Thursday afternoon and make landfall in the Big Bend region by the evening.

Hurricane Helene continued to strengthen as it neared Florida's gulf coast Thursday. The storm is expected to bring historic flooding to the Southeast, with potential storm surges of up to 20 feet. Manuel Bojorquez has the latest from Tampa Bay.

The Sunshine Skyway Bridge is closed due to high wind as Hurricane Helene impacts the Tampa Bay area. At 1:30 p.m. on Thursday, the Florida Highway Patrol said wind gusts had reached 60 miles per hour at the Skyway and closed the bridge to traffic. Authorities usually shut down the four-mile bridge when wind speeds hit 40 mph.

Predictions and picks for the 2024 NFL Week 4 matchup between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Philadelphia Eagles.

We’re looking at five key stats to know about the Tampa Bay Buccaneers ahead of their Week 4 matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles

The Philadelphia Eagles are away from home for the third time in four games in Week 4 with a Sunday trip to face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.