FORT MYERS, Fla. (WSVN) — Fort Myers Beach was slammed again after Hurricane Helene touched down in Florida, and now residents are cleaning up the trail of damage that was left behind.
The storm’s impact were felt far and wide around Florida, and although it wasn’t a direct hit to Fort Myers, residents there are feeling the devastating effects as the city goes into recovery mode.
On Thursday night, Hurricane Helene brought raging floods, which prompting dozens of water rescues.
One man and his dog were left stranded off the coast of Sanibel Island when their sailboat began to take in water and became disabled.
Video showed a U.S. Coast Guard member descending from the helicopter into the ocean as he hooked the duo up and they were airlifted into the helicopter safely.
The last moments of the video showed the man holding his dog and exchanging high-fives with his rescuers.
In Lee County, body camera video showed the sheriff’s office marine unit rescuing a man from his home in Fort Myers Beach using swamp buggies.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis credited first responders for responding quickly to help save lives throughout the state.
“I just want to thank everybody who — midnight, 1 a.m., 2 a.m., 3 a.m. — were out there rescuing folks,” he said. “This is not something that’s easy; the conditions were still very problematic in many respects up and down the state. We had our folks respond, and we said that this would be what would happen, ’cause that’s just kind of what we do here in Florida, but yeah, a lot of folks that made a big difference.”
Now families, some barely recovering from Hurricane Ian in 2022, are left to deal the storm surge, flooding and debris.
Meanwhile, authorities caution that the threat doesn’t end now that Helene has passed by.
“We need everyone to really be thoughtful of making sure they watch out for downed power lines, they don’t walk through or drive through floodwaters,” said Keith Turi, acting associate administrator for response and recovery for FEMA. “If your power is out, don’t use candles, use flashlights.”
Multiple flights at Southwest Florida International Airport in Lee County were cancelled Friday morning.
Normal operations are expected to resume over the course of the day.
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