Hurricane Helene Leaves Trail of Flooded Homes, Rescues, and Resilience in Hernando County

Coastal Hernando County took a severe blow Thursday night as the eye of Hurricane Helene moved up the coastline, just 90 miles offshore. Packing winds well over 120 mph near its center, Helene was still strengthening as it moved northeast, spreading hurricane-force winds along the county’s coastal areas and tropical-storm-force winds well inland.

But the big story was Helene’s storm surge, ranking among the top five highest surges ever recorded in many areas. Forecasters at the National Hurricane Center predicted storm surges of 8-12 feet for the area, prompting Hernando County officials to order a mandatory evacuation for areas west of US 19. It’s estimated that Helene’s storm surge did reach 8-feet in the coastal communities of Hernando County.

Despite official warnings, many “seasoned” Floridians living in the area opted to ride out the storm rather than evacuate. After Helene had passed, several water-soaked and shaken residents questioned the wisdom of that decision and said they would probably evacuate next time. Some told the Hernando Sun that they had ridden out storms for many years, with several citing surviving the infamous “No Name Storm,” a 1993 superstorm that brought hurricane-force winds and a storm surge of 12’ to Pine Island.

As of Friday morning, the Hernando County Sheriff’s Office reported conducting at least 13 rescues. According to a Facebook post, there were an estimated 17,000 structures without power, and 75 people were being housed in shelters at that time.
According to the Tampa Bay Times, Tampa Bay area fatalities totaled 11, with most drowning. All lived in mandatory evacuation zones. Fortunately, Hernando County did not record any deaths due to the storm.

Following the passage of the storm early Friday morning, Sheriff’s officials established a tight perimeter, allowing only first responders into the impact zones due to roadway flooding, electrical hazards, and uncleared debris. Among other obstructions, a large boat lay squarely across Shoal Line Boulevard just north of Hernando Beach, rendering the road impassable. Other boats, presumably from a marina over one-half mile away, had floated onto the two-lane road and into the marshes beyond, some with their trailers still attached.

Sheriff’s Deputies, Hernando Fire Rescue personnel, National Guard soldiers, and others used the time to conduct door-to-door surveys in Hernando Beach neighborhoods, contacting those who stayed behind to assess their condition and needs, as well as provide food and water to those requesting it. Hernando County Fire Rescue responded to several fires in the Hernando Beach area, sparked by seawater coming into contact with lithium batteries used in toys, power tools, and electric vehicles.

On Friday afternoon, some of the residents who had evacuated were allowed to return to their homes, only to find many structures had been inundated with water up to four feet in depth. While the surge had receded in most neighborhoods, some low-lying streets remained covered in one to two feet of water Friday and well into Saturday, making any recovery difficult.

Homes Flooded
Charlie and Tommie Toler of Hernando Beach said many of their neighbors and friends lost “pretty much everything in the storm” and expressed their sadness for the devastation. The couple said that they rode out the storm at their house and once water began coming under the door to their garage situated underneath the house, it only took about 20 minutes to get knee-high. The water in their garage got to about 5 feet. Mrs. Toler said that after having ridden out Idalia and other storms, they were caught off guard by the surge, saying it came up 2 or 3 feet higher than Idalia, which took a similar track last year. The couple seemed to take it all in stride, vowing to remain in Hernando Beach.

A Close Call
Some who chose to ride out the storm weren’t so certain they would do it again, such as Tim Boyle of Hernando Beach. Boyle, who said he had lived in the area for 18 years, wasn’t initially concerned with the storm surge. After all, he had seen many storms before, and they hadn’t been a major problem. Boyle said he had expected some water but was caught by surprise when the water rose high enough to begin pouring into the windows of his single-story residence. “It began rising really fast inside,” he said. That was when Boyle realized that he needed to get out. Boyle used his cell phone to call his daughter Rachelle and her fiancé JR, who were staying nearby at the Nature Coast Marina. Rachelle said she and her husband, with help from others at the marina, were able to use a boat to head to Boyle’s rescue. “Everything was flooded,” she said. “On the way over, I think we actually ran over a car and a whole bunch of other stuff. It was so dark we could hardly see, and we wound our way between houses until we got to the front yard. We tied off to a tree and JR went inside and got him out.” The rescue came none too soon for Boyle, who said the rising water began floating is furniture, which pinned him against a wall in his house with the current. Boyle added, “I’m pretty sure I’ll evacuate next time.”

“A Boat In My Pool”
While Helene wreaked havoc in Hernando Beach, it wasn’t any better in Hudson. Like many others up and down the coast, Jamie Williamson chose to “ride it out” in his home. Williamson’s house sits on a canal about four to five feet above water level, with a dock just steps from his lanai-covered pool. “I’ve been through a lot of storms in the seventeen years I’ve been here, and I knew the water would come up, just not this high.” Williamson, a retired Special Forces Colonel, said he thought that by staying, he could mitigate wind damage and what he expected to be minor flooding in his two-story home. What he got was a whole lot more than he bargained for.

Williamson said the water behind his home began rising rapidly about 11:30 p.m., and within just a few minutes began pouring through his lanai into his patio pool. “I heard what sounded like a loud knocking. When I looked, I found a neighbors’ boat coming through the lanai,” he said, displaying a screenshot from his security camera. By the time the surge peaked, Williamson’s house had received about three feet of water, demonstrating a total storm surge of just under eight feet.

Williamson lost his car too, as flood waters filled the interior in a matter of minutes. He seemed to take it all in stride, stating that he had friends bringing him a generator and some staples. Williamson said he had a lot of work to do, and planned to remain in his home while waiting on power to be restored.
Business Impacts

Meanwhile, back in Weeki Wachee, Amber Cone was keeping a close eye on her family business, The Kayak Shack. Located directly on the Weeki Wachee river near Shoal Line Blvd, Cone and family members had done everything they could to secure their small business of 15 years. Cone said around 11:30, she, along with family and friends who had been helping her, decided to take a quick break by going to a convenience store not far away.

According to Cone, they knew they were in trouble before they ever made it back, encountering surging water on the slightly more elevated Shoal Line Blvd. “Anything in it’s path, the water moved it,” she said. Cone said she had never seen the river surge that high in the entire time they had been in business. The flood waters washed the company’s docks away, and entered their business, floating a refrigerator and rising several feet up the interior walls. Many of the company’s rental kayaks floated away, and though some were recovered about a block away, at least a dozen are still missing. Like other small business owners, Cone looks forward to rebuilding and getting her doors open again. But that may take a while. When she contacted her insurance company, Cone was told they would “get to her,” but there were at least one half million claims ahead of her.

Cone said that whatever it takes, she was determined to reopen the business that she had built and insisted on handing down to her three daughters.
Volunteers to the Rescue

“Living in paradise,” as many describe Florida, is not without it’s trade-offs. Virtually every year at least one storm impacts the state, with a major storm hitting some part of the state in each of the last three years. Long time Florida residents know the drill, and many are the first to step up when their fellow Floridians are in need. Using social media to organize a grass roots response has become a standard practice for those who want to help in time of need.

Case in point – Linda Farmer, who runs the 2400 member Weeki Wachee River and Florida Waterways Forum on Facebook. With the assistance of friend and group member Asia Moore, the duo put together an impromptu distribution point on the Hernando Beach Coast Guard Auxiliary parking lot. Farmer said she calls it “hand to hand.”

Along with LJ Johns, who runs the 47,000-member Spring Hill Neighbors Group, the trio spent several days putting out the call on social media for donations of cleaning supplies, household items, personal hygiene items, and pretty much whatever else the impacted communities need at the time. As donations poured in from area residents, they were immediately made available to any of the area storm victims who needed them. Farmer said they make adjustments in the types of donations they ask for, depending on what is in immediate need.

Several local and national organizations are also pitching in to help with manpower and physical labor to help clean out flooded homes. Among them, were groups like the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, who had 125 yellow-shirted members working in the community on Sunday.
Mark Ebel, who runs the non-profit Sword and Spoon outreach arrived with dozens of meals to help feed area residents. Sword and Spoon is a non-profit geared at helping the homeless, but on this particular day extended their services to everyone in Hernando Beach who was in need.

Despite the outpouring of assistance by both organizations and neighbors, it will take the residents of Hernando County affected by this storm a very long time to fully recover.

After passing up the coast into the Florida Big Bend region, the storm roared ashore in the Big Bend region with 140 mph winds and a 20-foot storm surge, devastating communities there. Because of the fast forward motion of the storm, it continued northward carrying hurricane force winds into central Georgia snapping massive forests of pine trees and bringing down power lines. From there. The storm continued through South and North Carolina, dumping torrential rains, causing flooding that wiped out entire towns such as Chimney Rock, NC.
AccuWeather rates Helene as one of the costliest storms in US History, with damages and economic loss between $95 billion and $110 billion. Around 100 deaths have been attributed to Helene so far, according to CBS News.

Correction: The original version of this article stated that Charlie and Tommie Toler of Hernando Beach lost everything in the storm.  This was incorrect and was changed to reflect that many of their neighbors lost everything in the storm.