Hurricanes Helene and Milton Relief

September 2024 – September 2025
Last updated: October 2024

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 hazardous 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.

In the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Helene’s impact in Asheville, it was clear that the storm’s repercussions would be felt for months, if not years. Just two days after the hurricane’s unprecedented damage to this astonishingly inland, mountainous region, AHAH had a team on the ground, ready to begin assisting with the community’s needs. While taking in the scale of devastation, we quickly established a base, fully aware that our commitment would extend into long-term recovery efforts.

AHAH’s rapid mobilization allowed teams to quickly address the immediate needs as flood waters retreated, supporting homeowners in Asheville and its surrounding communities by assessing sites for cleanup, mucking, gutting and removing hazardous debris. Our early arrival meant we were able to establish local partnerships quickly, with organizations such as the American Red Cross and CORE, to exchange mutual expertise in relief efforts.

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.

Hurricane Helene made a historic landfall as a Category 4 storm, the strongest to ever hit Florida’s Big Bend since records began. With winds exceeding 140 mph, devastating storm surges and deadly flooding, Hurricane Helene left over four million without power while causing catastrophic damage as it traveled up toward Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia. North Carolina’s western Appalachian region bore the brunt of Helene’s devastation. Historic rainfall caused rivers in the region to overflow, flooding settlements and destroying homes and infrastructure, while cutting off power, transportation and communication in the aftermath of the storm. Several dams were breached, and mudslides further worsened the damage.

Less than two weeks later, Hurricane Milton broke records as the fastest intensifying Category 5 hurricane in history, surging from a tropical storm to a Category 5 hurricane in less than 24 hours. Milton struck Siesta Key, Florida, unleashing deadly tornadoes hundreds of miles from the eye of the storm. Heavy rainfall and storm surge on already saturated ground from a record-breaking hurricane season left over two million Floridians under an emergency flash flood watch. Debris piles left over from Helene were further thrashed about, adding to the extensive damage and cleanup still needed.