Pasco County, Florida, faces worst devastation in decades
Residents of Pasco County, Florida, just north of Tampa, are facing "a level of devastation in our county that, quite honestly, I haven't seen in the 20-plus years that I've lived here," county administrator Mike Carballa said.
Pasco County’s emergency center received about 400 to 500 calls for service early Friday morning after landfall, Carballa said. Of those calls, crews were only able to answer about 20%, he said.
There were fires that first responders saw but could not initially reach, which Carballa called "heart wrenching."
"We felt very, very helpless," he said.
Despite Helene's devastation, officials said they saw residents helping their neighbors, like by taking them to safety in boats.
The initial response phase has ended and officials are now moving into damage assessment, Carballa said.
-ABC News’ Victoria Arancio