TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – More than 200,000 Floridians were still without power Sunday morning after Hurricane Helene, according to Gov. Ron DeSantis.
During a news conference in Pasco County, DeSantis said that more than 2 million accounts have been restored, and added that Duke Energy expects power to be restored to most of their customers by midnight.
Eleven people died in Florida as Hurricane Helene made landfall as a powerful Category 4 storm in the Big Bend region late Thursday night, Gov. Ron DeSantis said Saturday morning during a news conference in Taylor County.
The deaths included traffic fatalities and people directly impacted by the storm surge.
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Helene made landfall at Dekle Beach in Taylor County with maximum sustained winds of 140 miles per hour. There were no storm-related fatalities in this county.
“As you look around here, we see some homes that are now just rubble,” DeSantis said Saturday. “There’s a lot of damage that we’re seeing here.”
Storm surges were “historic” according to DeSantis, exceeding those seen during Hurricane Idalia, particularly in Tampa Bay and the Big Bend region.
DeSantis said the state will be bringing the first round of travel trailers for people to live in while repairs are made on their homes.
Moreover, DeSantis launched Operation Blue Ridge to deploy recovery assistance to North Carolina and Tennessee to help with Helene’s impacts. That operation will also help Floridians seeking rescue in western North Carolina, the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Tennessee Valley.
The Operation Blue Ridge multi-state agency response will include the Florida Division of Emergency Management, Florida State Guard, Florida National Guard, Florida Department of Transportation, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, and a Florida Law Enforcement Coordination Task Force, and a Law Enforcement Strike Team.
On Saturday, the Governor and First Lady Casey DeSantis also announced the activation of the Florida Disaster Fund to help communities impacted by the hurricane.
This fund is the state’s official private fund established to help communities as they respond to and recover during times of emergency or disaster.
Donations made to the fund are tax-deductible.
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Donations may be made by visiting FloridaDisasterFund.org, or by mail. Checks should be made payable to the Volunteer Florida Foundation and should include “Florida Disaster Fund” in the memo line.
Donations by mail should be written as follows:
Volunteer Florida Foundation
Attention: Florida Disaster Fund
1545 Raymond Diehl Road Suite 250
Tallahassee, FL 32308
The HOPE LINE (833-GET-HOPE) will be available 24/7 for the next two-plus weeks to help those in need of resources or other assistance after the storm.
Floridians seeking rescue through Operation Blue Ridge are asked to fill out the form on this website.