More than 100 residents rescued in Citrus County amid 10 feet of floodwaters

CRYSTAL RIVER, Fla. (WFLA) — Citrus County Sheriff’s Office and Good Samaritans have been rescuing residents in Crystal River due to flooding from Hurricane Helene.

According to the sheriff, more than 100 residents and 50 pets have been rescued from the flooding.

Five airboats constantly are actively out to respond to calls

At 5:30 a.m., there were about 22 calls from residents needing to be rescued, but crews were getting flagged down by people asking for help.

The sheriff said some areas of Crystal River are 10 feet deep, something the area has never seen before.

“It’s pretty bad stuff we’ve never seen before. The storm surge just came in pretty good, like they said it would. As far as everything else, people are still in their houses and we’ve just been running back and forth trying to rescue people. A lot of people we’ve seen on top of their vehicles,” a Good Samaritan, Will, said.

Citrus County was expected to get 10 to 15 feet of storm surge from Hurricane Helene.

Mayor Joe Meek said that roads leading into downtown Crystal River were ground zero for flooding.

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“They don’t have a reason for why they stayed, I am assuming they stayed because of what happened in the past, it hasn’t been that bad around here,” Will added. “They always tell you to evacuate, evacuate. A lot of people listen, a lot of people don’t. I’m sure after this one, everybody will listen.”

Numerous crews are out working to rescue residents throughout the county. There are multiple locations where crews are working this morning.

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