Hundreds of people were rescued in coastal areas of Tampa Bay from rising waters caused by the huge storm surge of Hurricane Helene as it slammed into Florida on Thursday, according to reports.
The Category 4 storm with 140 mph sustained winds made landfall around 11:10 p.m. Thursday near Perry in northwest Florida with an “unsurvivable” storm surge that flooded roads and caused extensive damage miles inland.
The storm surge in the Tampa Bay region was the highest on record.
“Some of the gauges have been around since the mid-1940s,” said WTVT Chief Meteorologist Paul Dellegatto. “Incredibly, some of the records broken were set last year during Idalia on August 30, 2023.”
Tampa Mayor Jane Castor, said Friday morning that first responders conducted 87 rescues.
“Some of the people didn’t heed the warning to get to higher ground, and so our first responders have been doing water rescues all night long,” Castor said in a video on Facebook.
“They’ve been pulling people out of Palmetto Beach, South Tampa and Davis Islands,” she said.
In Hillsborough County, home to Tampa, officials said they responded to more than 300 calls between 11 p.m. Thursday and 4 a.m. Friday as well as more than a dozen house fires and water rescues, WTVT-TV reported.
In one case, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office pulled a teenager from a car that became stranded after she tried to drive it through a flooded street.
The Pinellas County Emergency Management said Friday that its 911 service fielded more than 7,000 calls in less than 24 hours, four times the usual number. It said that “numerous fire, water rescue, and medical calls continue to pour in.”
In nearby Pasco County, the sheriff’s office rescued more than 200 people overnight and closed U.S. 19.
North in Citrus County, first responders reportedly rescued more than 100 people along with about 50 pets.
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