Peter Schorsch
Hurricane Helene steamrolled through the Gulf of Mexico, landing in the Big Bend late Thursday night, leaving heartbreaking destruction all along the state’s Gulf Coast.
The Category 4 storm, which made landfall at 11:10 p.m. ET near Perry in Taylor County, was particularly bad for people living along coastal communities, who faced winds as high as 140 mph. Helene was the first significant storm to hit Tampa Bay — especially hard-hit was my beloved Pinellas County — since 1921.
Storm surges up to 20 feet flooded homes and businesses, and as of Sunday, thousands of people were without power.
According to The Associated Press, at least 64 people died across Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia. The dead included three firefighters, a mother and her 1-month-old twins, a 23-year-old driving on I-4 near Ybor City, and an 89-year-old woman struck by a tree that hit her house. Of the eleven Pinellas County residents who died, one was 79-year-old Marjorie Havard of St. Pete Beach, a woman very dear to the Florida Politics editing team.
Immediately after the impact, state and federal agencies, nonprofits, and the private sector began the recovery process by working to make aid available for anyone impacted by Helene.
If you need aid, there are some excellent places to start.
Online forums — such as local Nextdoor.com communities and Facebook groups based in your area, to name two — can provide information and links to organizations offering help, food distribution, clean-up efforts and more.
Want to lend a hand to those impacted by Helene? There are many ways you can help:
211 Tampa Bay Cares — is closely working with Pinellas County Emergency Management, Pinellas County Human Services, Pinellas VOAD, & other recovery organizations to ensure the safety of all citizens. Connect with us on Facebook & Twitter for relevant disaster information.
ABC Cares Foundation immediately funds construction industry members and their families in need after tragedies, hurricane-related or otherwise. Ninety-seven cents of every dollar raised goes to recipients in need.
A Door of Hope — provides help for children in crisis.
American Red Cross — financial donations for those impacted by Helene or blood donations for disaster victims.
Babycycle Diaper Bank — provides necessities like diapers, wipes, clean clothing, and other essential items.
Care USA — provides cash assistance to those affected by Helene.
Family Initiative — serves Taylor and Madison counties on the ground with a Mobil Response Sensory Trailer, giving sensory kits to special needs families impacted by the storm. The Mobile Response Sensory Trailer is prepared to support 500 special needs families affected by the storm. It offers a sensory-friendly, air-conditioned space with Wi-Fi to help those with special needs. It is hosted by clinicians to counsel and support impacted families.
Farm Share — While Farm Share often reaches affected communities within days of a storm’s landfall, it’s crucial for Florida families to have enough food, water, and supplies to last until aid can be safely provided.
Feeding Tampa Bay — says donations will immediately be sent to areas most impacted, helping to provide stability in the days, weeks and months after the storm. In partnership with the Tampa Bay area Emergency Operations Centers, Feeding Tampa Bay works directly with local emergency management operations to provide food, water, and hygiene items to our service area, state, and neighboring states during crises.
Florida Disaster Fund — funds will be distributed to service organizations that help individuals in communities with disaster response and recovery. For Hurricane Helene, administrative and credit card fees have been waived — 100% of every donation to the fund will be used to help Floridians recover.
FMB Strong — is dedicated to supporting communities in Fort Myers Beach through food pantry donations, ensuring that no one goes hungry in the aftermath of a disaster.
GoFundMe — has started a general Hurricane Helene relief fund.
The Kearney Center — in Tallahassee is the largest provider of the continuum of homelessness services in the Big Bend region. The center expects an influx of storm victims to flee affected counties for Tallahassee.
Metropolitan Ministries — donations will provide families with food, water, shelter, and necessary supplies.
OneBlood — is urgently calling for blood donations for Helene victims. All blood types are welcome, but the most needed are O-negative and O-positive blood and platelets.
Operation BBQ Relief — Sen. Jay Collins’ day job will gather a fleet of cooks, mobile pits, kitchens, and volunteers. Operation BBQ Relief delivers the healing power of BBQ to disaster-affected communities, offering solace to residents, first responders, and relief workers.
The Salvation Army is mobilizing disaster response teams and mobile feeding units in Florida, Georgia, and the Carolinas to respond to Hurricane Helene’s impacts. Your donation will help provide emergency aid, food, drinks, emotional and spiritual care, and long-term recovery services to the disaster’s survivors.
Samaritan’s Purse — has launched a five-site response to Helene in: Perry; Tampa; Valdosta, Georgia; the High Country of northwestern North Carolina and eastern Tennessee; and Asheville, North Carolina.
Stronger than the Storm — offers kid-friendly resources to help children recover, reconnect, and develop resilience during tough times before, during, and after disasters.
United Way of Florida — The UWOF fund will assist communities in Florida impacted by Helene.
