Though Hurricane Elena never crossed Florida's coast, its drawn-out interaction 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.