All Hands and Hearts (AHAH) was staged and ready to provide immediate relief before Hurricane Helene’s record-breaking landfall, first arriving in Pasco and Madison Counties, Florida, in the hours following Helene’s passage. Within two days, AHAH deployed a team to Asheville, North Carolina, in response to reports of unprecedented flash flooding and mudslides ravaging the region. The team assessed over 60 homes for emergency assistance and completed debris removal, mucking, gutting and tree removal across more than 20 sites during their first week.
Less than two weeks later, while still engaged in immediate Hurricane Helene cleanup efforts in Florida, Hurricane Milton – the fastest intensifying Category 5 hurricane on record – began to close in on Florida, prompting the team’s evacuation. Anticipating severe damage, AHAH was prepared to return immediately after the storm, resuming critical cleanup and debris removal as part of the early stages of their 12-month response to Hurricanes Helene and Milton.
Florida
AHAH was the first relief organization operating on the ground in Pasco County, Florida, after Hurricane Helene made devastating landfall in the region. In our initial response to Helene in Florida, our response focused on assessing homes for cleanup and providing urgent debris removal and muck and guts for impacted communities.
After evacuating ahead of Hurricane Milton’s landfall, AHAH quickly redeployed to Pasco County, doubling down on their efforts in responding to back-to-back hurricanes. Our teams have been engaging local volunteers as we work on debris removal, mold sanitation and mucking and gutting homes where floodwaters reached up to five feet, causing severe damage. Removing waterlogged materials and furniture is essential in helping homeowners begin to rebuild healthy, disaster-resilient homes, where we remain committed to supporting each step of the recovery process through the long-term.
