Downed trees, flooding and power outages: Hurricane Helene does damage in Florida before landfall in Big Bend region

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. – Homes were damaged, there was flooding and more than 100,000 people were left without power on Thursday as the outer bands of Hurricane Helene swept across the state.

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According to PowerOutage.us, more than 114,000 customers were without power as of 3:30 p.m.

In Stuart, on the east coast, firefighters responded to a tree that toppled over on a mobile home and left the family trapped inside, an adult and two children.

Fire Rescue said a large tree fell through the roof into a bedroom.

“A Sheriff’s Office Deputy was nearby and made it in time to help the residents out of the bedroom. Our firefighters arrived moments later to assess the scene and make sure no one was hurt. Thankfully, the residents were shaken up somehow, and no one was seriously injured,” one official said.

Sadly, the house was a total loss, and all four residents were displaced.

The Red Cross has been in contact with the family, and Animal Control is assisting the family with caring for and storing several pets.

In Port St. Lucie, two electrical power poles were knocked down and blocked the roadway Thursday, causing residents to evacuate the area as a precaution against a fire threat.

According to WPTV, the residents of eight homes were asked to shelter in place.

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“We were just asked to evacuate our house because of a threat of fire,” Ana Hutchinson said. “A big storm came through, a big band, and knocked the power out.”

On the other coast, there were widespread reports of flooding in Southwest Florida.

There were flood reports from Pinellas County, to Manatee County and beyond.