Couple Watches as Florida Home is Missed by Hurricane Helene

DULUTH, Minn. — One couple, who were born and raised in Superior, Wisconsin, are breathing a sigh of relief after their Florida home is narrowly missed by Hurricane Helene.

Tom and Cindy Fennessey watched from thousands of miles away, as the Category 4 storm bypassed their costal home.

The couple resides in Englewood, Florida, which is about an hour south of Tampa. They were back in the Twin Ports when Helene made land fall.

Through cameras and a weather system, Tom and Cindy receive updates on any conditions in Florida.

They say their home was undamaged during the storm surge, and only minor flooding occurred in their neighborhood.

“We take it pretty serious, because we do not want to be those people that ride out the storm and wish they hadn’t, so we take it pretty serious if we were going to be in that position,” said Tom Fennessey. “But you know, the most nerve wracking thing for us is being up here trying to get details of what’s going on down there. We’ve got friends down there that we rely on.”

While Hurricane Helene missed Tom and Cindy’s home, they recalled the recovery efforts after Hurricane Ian caused significant damage two years ago.

The two said after Ian, their neighborhood now has a command team, who assists in storm prep and aftermath clean-up.

“We were prepared for the worst but,” said Fennessey. “But I know from experience the recovery effort that they’re going to have to go through, and, you know, the Red Cross and the Salvation Army, they’ll come out, and there’ll be a lot of contractors, you know, willing to help, but everybody’s going to be in, you know, kind of a shock and awe type of thing when that hits. And that’s what happened with with us two years ago.”

The couple says they keep evacuation kits on hand in their Florida home, it includes things like extra clothes, flashlights and food.