Florida residents pick up pieces after Hurricane Helene destroys homes

Residents in Florida returned to their homes with shock and sadness Friday as they began picking up the pieces from Hurricane Helene’s trail of destruction.

Keaton Beach, located north of Clearwater, took a very hard hit, with boats being tossed like toys and then stranded in the middle of flooded streets.

Fonda Neel, a Keaton Beach resident, told ABC News that her home, which she called her happy place, was now gone.

“It’s devastating,” she said. “It’s hard to think.”

Further south, a 10-foot storm surge tore apart sections of Cedar Key. In Treasure Island, located on a barrier island adjacent to St. Petersburg, the storm sent boats over 200 yards to come to rest on a four-lane causeway.

In the town of Perry, about an hour southeast of Tallahassee, the storm destroyed power transformers and ripped the roofs off of houses.

Scott Bembry, a Perry resident, stayed in a church shelter to ride out the storm, a decision that he said he would never make again.

“I wouldn’t advise anybody to stick around for one of these storms. Evacuate when it’s time to evacuate,” he told ABC News.