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Hurricane Ian at peak intensity while approaching southwest Florida on Sept. 28, 2022.

2024 Atlantic Hurricane Season

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Helene wrecked tens of thousands of homes in the Tampa Bay region. Here are the numbers so far

WUSF | By Nancy Guan

Published September 30, 2024 at 5:47 PM EDT

Aerial photo of a waterfront view. Buildings are next to the water, but there is sand all over the street and parking lots with only a handful of vehicles visible. — During Hurricane Helene, tons of sand washed up on Pinellas beach properties, roads and businesses.

The hurricane brought levels of storm surge that communities haven't seen in years. Crews are continuing to assess damage in neighborhoods that got hit with flooding.

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

3,000 reported incidents of residential property damage so far. According to the Hillsborough County Public Information Office, the count is preliminary and is likely to go up.