NFL Network host Sara Walsh revealed that she and her family experienced the destructive floods and winds of Hurricane Helene at their home in Clearwater, Florida, last week.
Walsh shared footage in an X post on Sept. 28, showing the extent of how flooded the streets were by her home.
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During an episode of “Good Morning Football” on NFL Network on Wednesday, Walsh went further into detail about the experience that she and her family went through amid the Category 4 storm, which already has a death toll of over 190.
The segment revealed additional footage of Walsh’s husband helping to rescue their children, pets and neighbors on a floating raft.
“That was my husband rescuing the neighbors. They sent the dogs over first. And that is my daughter being taken out of my house at 2 a.m. because the house behind us caught on fire and was burning to the ground in hurricane winds. So, an unbelievably devastating, scary situation. I know how incredibly lucky I am to be sitting here right now,” Walsh said.
“The one thing you learn in disasters is how much people care. You see a side in humanity that you sort of forgot was there. I can’t say enough how overwhelmed myself and pretty much everyone I know has been by just the outpouring of support.”
Helene is already considered one of the worst hurricanes to hit Florida in modern history. The storm moved north into the mainland United States, causing historic flooding in parts of Georgia and North Carolina. Walsh claims her town has been destroyed to the point where it’s as if it “doesn’t exist.”
“Every single person I know on Clearwater Beach lost their home,” Walsh said. “It is completely and utterly decimated, almost to the point it doesn’t exist.”
HURRICANE HELENE WREAKS HAVOC ACROSS ASHEVILLE, NC; NATIONAL GUARD DEPLOYED, 119 RESCUED
Floodwaters inundate the main street after Hurricane Helene passed offshore on Sept. 27, 2024, in Tarpon Springs, Florida. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Anotther Florida native, golf legend John Daley, said Wednesday that he also lost his Clearwater, Florida, home in the “devastating” storm.
“I’m just glad everyone is healthy, that’s the main thing,” he told the PGA Tour’s website. “You live in Florida, you have to understand that’s going to happen, but not like this. I didn’t think it would be this bad.”
Flooding has been one of the biggest destructive forces of the hurricane, beginning along Florida’s coast well before Hurricane Helene made landfall, with rapidly rising waters reported as far south as Fort Myers on the state’s Gulf Coast. FOX Weather’s Ian Oliver said the surge quickly flooded streets around St. Pete Beach on Thursday evening, with high tide several hours away.
The storm slammed Florida’s Big Bend region, after intensifying into a catastrophic Category 4 hurricane with winds of 140 mph. Helene unleashed a potentially “unsurvivable” 20-foot storm surge, catastrophic hurricane-force winds and flooding.
The storm is expected to cause $15 billion to $26 billion in property damage.
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A passerby checks the water depth of a flooded road, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, in Morganton, North Carolina. (AP Photo/Kathy Kmonicek)
The Biden-Harris administration’s disaster relief agency is facing backlash after its unearthed emergency management blueprint went viral. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) website lists a set of three goals as part of its strategic plan to “address key challenges” in emergency management. The number one goal listed in the agency’s priorities is to “instill equity as a foundation of emergency management.” According to FEMA’s plan, “Diversity, equity, and inclusion cannot be optional.”
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has also warned that FEMA “does not have the funds” to get through hurricane season.
“We are meeting the immediate needs with the money that we have. We are expecting another hurricane hitting. We do not have the funds. FEMA does not have the funds to make it through the season,” Mayorkas said Wednesday.
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Jackson Thompson is a sports writer for Fox News Digital. He previously worked for ESPN and Business Insider. Jackson has covered the Super Bowl and NBA Finals, and has interviewed iconic figures Usain Bolt, Rob Gronkowski, Jerry Rice, Troy Aikman, Mike Trout, David Ortiz and Roger Clemens.
