TAMPA, Fla. — As damage assessments continued after Hurricane Helene slammed the Florida coast, thousands of state officials and law enforcement officers quickly began working to clear roads and check in with storm victims in rural areas.
More than 12,000 miles of roads have been cleared by more than 800 Florida Department of Transportation crews. The crews are made up of 2,100 department team leaders working directly on storm response, according to a press release from Gov. Ron DeSantis's office.
61 "cut and toss" crews cleared I-10 in under 6 hours of the storm making landfall, the statement said. 129 bridge inspectors have cleared 1,400 bridges in the affected areas.
Along with the FDOT, 1,400 Florida National Guard service members were activated and have rescued 149 people and 55 animals, according to the governor's office.
The Florida State Guard is assisting with clearing roads and assessing damage in Taylor, Dixie and Wakulla counties. Crews were also able to rescue an 80-year-old wheelchair-bound woman from a flooded building, officials said.
Officials are also increasing security in the affected areas. More than 500 Florida Department of Law Enforcement officers are helping with search and rescue, security, law enforcement support, traffic control and fuel for first responders.
Even the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is mobilizing to support search and rescue efforts. More than 100 officers conducted welfare checks in Dixie, Levy and Taylor Counties with shallow draft vessels and specialized high-water vehicles, officials said.
Conservations officers performed 21 rescues in Citrus County and responded to 40 calls for assistance. In Pinellas County, crews assisted the Treasure Island Fire Department with the evacuation of 45 residents from the island.
Urban Search and Rescue Teams with the Florida Department of Emergency Management also rescued 13 survivors.
The Agency for Health Care Administration reports more than a hundred healthcare facilities have been evacuated or are running solely on generator power.
Saturday morning, 55 healthcare facilities reported evacuations, which included:
- 27 assisted living facilities
- 18 nursing homes
- 4 hospitals
- 2 residential treatment facilities
- 1 residential treatment center for children and adolescents
- 2 adult family care homes, and 3 intermediate care facilities for developmentally disabled
- 100% of operating long-term care facilities have a generator on-site. The Generator Status Map for long-term care facilities is available here.
As of Saturday afternoon, 93 healthcare facilities are on generator power across the state:
- 4 hospitals
- 48 assisted living facilities
- 24 nursing homes.
- 2 adult family care home
- 1 hospice
- 1 hospital emergency department
- 5 intermediate care facilities for the developmentally disabled
- 4 residential treatment facilities
- 1 residential treatment center for children and adolescents
- 3 stabilization and short-term residential treatment facilities
367,993 Floridians were still without power Saturday morning after 2,034,992 accounts were restored, officials said.
Recovery efforts are expected to take weeks, maybe months. Donations to Florida's Disaster Fund can be made here.
