with land agitated large swaths of the state's western shore. Winds along and around the Pinellas County coast generally blew from the south or southwest for several days, creating persistent onshore flow that built up heavy seas. Near Clearwater, waves reached in height, marked by a period of 13 seconds on August 31. One study determined that the storm removed an average of 10 cubic yards of coastal material per linear foot of shoreline in Escambia County, Gulf, Franklin, and Pinellas counties, with values peaking at 15.6 cubic yards per foot. Along the predominantly marshy coasts of Pasco, Hernando, and Citrus counties, erosion and structural damage were much more limited, partly due to the local southerly or southeasterly wind direction. In some cases, the hurricane left quasi-permanent alterations on beaches and small islands. For example, North Bunces Key—an island of southern Pinellas County—lost most of its vegetation to the storm, and overwashing shifted the southern part of the island up to 330 ft (100 m) from its original settlement. More extensive changes were seen on and near Caladesi Island, which formed in 1921 after a hurricane split a larger barrier island into two by a new channel. The inlet became dominant over Dunedin Pass to the south, which grew narrower very gradually until Elena rearranged the dynamics of the beach, allowing Dunedin Pass to fill completely with sand within a couple years of the hurricane's passage. As a result, Clearwater Beach became connected to Caladesi Island. Elena also created a new inlet known as Willy's Cut, which existed until 1991. Interest in artificially reopening Dunedin Pass prompted an official study in 1994 on the engineering and financial merits of such a project. Due to the high cost of dredging and the likelihood of nearly continuous maintenance, no action was taken. The hurricane tore two barges from their moorings in Tampa Bay and blew them into Gandy Bridge, leaving the bridge with unspecified damage. Throughout the area, rising waters inundated streets, washed boats ashore, and destroyed numerous homes along the coast. At low-lying Cedar Key to the north, storm surge exceeded . There, and at Alligator Point to the northwest, the surge values represented return periods of 25 to 30 years; elsewhere, they were equivalent to about 10-year events. Floodwaters in Cedar Key rose to in depth, with waves atop the standing water. The extent of structural damage was largely dependent