PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — St. Petersburg residents are considering moving from their homes after Hurricane Helene.
“Some of us cry, some of us hug each other, and then we just put our big girl panties on and keep going,” said Debbie Bright, a resident in St. Petersburg.
Belongings are now scattered in front yards all over the Tampa Bay Area.
“Right now, everything I own is in a 5-by-10-foot storage unit,” said Bright.
Lealman Fire District said one area that is devastated is the neighborhood along 42nd Avenue in St. Petersburg.
“I have four grandchildren and this is the only place they’ve ever known and they come in. And they are crying because this was nanny and papi’s house,” said Bright.
Many of the homes had up to five feet of water inside during Hurricane Helene.
Lealman Fire Department rescued 15 people in that neighborhood alone.
“Total shock…It like you walked into a war zone. Total shock, total disbelief,” said Bright.
Bright said she stayed in Palm Harbor during the storm, but her neighbors say the storm surge came through her backdoor and pulled much of her furniture into the bay.
“With the power of the water and the wind that was back here, from what we could see, there’s no way. We would have been one of those casualties,” said Bright.
She’s grateful to be alive but said her home is a total loss.
“We are on day number seven here and when I got here this morning, I sat in a chair and we cried, and then we are ok and then we cry again,” said Bright.
Many residents of St. Petersburg we talked to said they are planning to move so they don’t have to experience the devastation again.
“If you look around the neighborhood here, it’s just a horrible sight. Total devastation,” said one resident, Alvena Tierney.
Tierney said her home had roughly two feet of water inside, and she’s going to try to repair and stay in her neighborhood, but she said others weren’t so lucky.
“I suspect there are going to be some that will go and these huge houses are going to be built up or condos,” said Tierney.
Bright said neighbors like Tierney have been supportive, and she hopes her community recovers quickly.
“It’s kind of one hour at a time, one day at a time,” said Bright.