Counties are tallying up the damage wrought by Hurricane Helene, which pushed catastrophic levels of storm surge onto coastal communities in the Tampa Bay Region.
In the storm's wake, some residents watched their homes fill with several feet of water. Beloved landmarks like the pier at Safety Harbor Waterfront Park were wiped out.
Preliminary counts show tens of thousands of properties destroyed or damaged. The cost to repair the Tampa Bay region will likely total over hundreds of millions — if not billions — of dollars.
Here are the numbers so far by county:
Hillsborough County
Destroyed: 151
Major Damage: 1,709
Minor Damage: 2,630
Affected: 1,823
Hillsborough County estimates $1.8 billion in residential damage from Hurricane Helene.
A county official said the numbers come from a preliminary assessment taken in order to seek disaster declaration from FEMA. The numbers only reflect that initial canvassing and represent a portion of the impacted community.
Pinellas County
Total Properties Assessed: 27,735
Destroyed: 267
Major: 16,516
Minor: 6,392
Affected 4,560
Find updated numbers at Pinellas County's residential damage assessment dashboard.
Pasco County
9,430 reported incidents. This number is expected to change as teams continue doing assessments.
Hernando County
Destroyed: 3
Major Damage: 529
Minor Damage: 18
Affected: 8
Total:
Numbers are updated on Pasco's damage assessment dashboard.
Sarasota County
Residential damage in unincorporated Sarasota County
Destroyed: 6
Major: 471
Minor: 565
Affected: 799
Total: 1,841
Total residential damage: $165,530,830
Manatee County
Residential Damage
Destroyed: 542
Major: 553
Minor: 1635
Affected 314
Total in dollars: $353,951,318
Commercial Damage
Destroyed: 52
Major: 5
Minor: 173
Total in dollars: $4,635,400
Manatee's numbers do not include coastal communities of Anna Maria, Holmes Beach and Bradenton Beach.
