VIDEO: Hotel guests rescued during Hurricane Helene in Sarasota

SARASOTA, Fla. (WFLA) — Guests staying at a hotel in north Sarasota were rescued by Manatee County deputies as Hurricane Helene made landfall in Florida Thursday night.

Bodycam video shows deputies at the Ramada Inn Hotel, located on North Tamiami Trail in Sarasota after water from the nearby bay began flooding the first-floor rooms.

“Multiple deputies waded through rising water to evacuate approximately 100 people, including several elderly people in wheelchairs,” the sheriff’s office said.

The fire alarm is heard screeching in the background, as fire, smoke, and electrical hazards were reported in some rooms.

“I got you, sweetheart,” a deputy is heard telling a guest he was transporting.

Firefighters and electric line crews assisted deputies, as they used flashlights to navigate and locate guests for roughly an hour and a half, to bring the guests to safety.

Buses were dispatched to the hotel to relocate the hotel guests. The sheriff’s office said many were taken to nearby hotels, while around 20 people were taken to a storm shelter at Lee Middle School in Bradenton.

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