Emergency responders in Pasco County are expecting to find fatalities in the aftermath of storm surge from Hurricane Helene that reached 16 feet in some areas.
“We had areas we could not get to last night,” County emergency operations director Andrew Fossa said when he addressed his team during a Friday morning briefing.
County emergency operations director Andrew Fossa said directed responders to begin door-to-door knocking and “prepare for body recovery.”
LIVE BLOG: The latest on Helene and the storm's aftermath
“I hope and pray that there’s not lives lost, but I don’t see how there can’t be,” County administrator Mike Carballa told the EOC team.
Helene became a Category 4 storm Thursday afternoon and roared north-northeast through the Gulf of Mexico before making landfall with 140 mph winds in Taylor County just after 11 p.m.
Hours before that, the immense storm surge was just starting to surprise residents along the state’s west coast. Many did not heed warnings to evacuate.
Fossa said the forecasted 8 to 12 feet of storm surge from Helene reached 16 feet in some areas.
He said more than 600 emergency calls were received as surge levels peaked overnight between 11 p.m. to 2 a.m. As of 8 a.m. Friday, there were 135 rescues, more than after Hurricane Idalia, a Category 4 storm that followed a similar track into the Big Bend area in August 2023.
As of 8 a.m. Friday, there were no official fatalities in Pasco.
Fossa said there were many homes that high-water rescue teams were unable Thursday night to reach due to extreme conditions.
Storm surge levels were between 4 and 7 feet as of Friday morning.
One New Port Richey resident, Lacie Snyder, said she witnessed a restaurant on fire in her neighborhood, a truck that drove off the seawall on Grand Boulevard and many horses in flooded fields. Snyder lives on the east side of U.S. 19 off of the Pithlachascotee River.
As of Friday morning, the county received reports of 31 structure fires and 38 road closures due to the storm.
Duke Energy says more than 40,000 homes remain without power Friday morning. It could several days to bring service back online.
A self-reporting damage tool for residents will go live today, the county said. If your house has damage, call 911 or the customer service line at 727-847-2411. Before then, officials urge residents not to go outside to survey neighborhood damage.
