Clean up efforts underway after Hurricane Idalia for Pasco County residents
GULF HARBORS, Fla. - Pasco County residents are figuring out how much damage they have to deal with from the storm surge from Hurricane Idalia.
The squeegees and mops came out as Gulf Harbors resident Katie Syphers cleans up water from the storm.
"The water has come into only our garage. But our neighbors had the garage and lanai, garage and lanai, people over there had it in their house," said Syphers, as she described the water levels in her neighborhood which is near the Elfers area.
READ: Hurricane Idalia updates: What we know about flooding, damages in Tampa Bay Area
Her family rode out the storm in their home and watched the water levels rise and recede from the canals.
"We’re [Zone] A, instant evacuation. We just kind of play it by ear, watch how it goes. Watch the tides, and we know the thresholds of our property," said Sypher.
But this time was too close.
"We got lucky. Next time we will not stay," she said, added that this time was like a reality check with their luck. "Next time with the dirty side of the storm, don’t play. Don’t play around 01:46 yeah no, don’t play. Everybody, evacuate if you can."
RELATED: Hurricane Idalia: Citrus County residents continue to be rescued from inside evacuation zones
That’s what Bill Ferguson and his wife did, worried about storm surge. They live nearby on Marine Parkway in Gulf Harbors. They evacuated to a friend’s house in South Tampa and returned Wednesday to assess damage around their house.
"It was worse than I thought. The entire backyard was flooded," said Ferguson. "The water came up through the porch. When we saw the front of the house, we saw all the debris from the gulf up on the door and on the garage."
Ferguson said water came out of their garage when they opened it, and they noticed more in their backyard.
As of Wednesday evening, emergency officials said Dade City, Zephyrhills and other parts of Pasco County are still dealing with road closures and power outages.
"We had about 4,000 to 6,000 homes flooded with water. We’re going to start damage assessment on those tomorrow," said Andrew Fossa, the Pasco Emergency Management director.
MORE: Idalia downgraded to tropical storm over Georgia after making Florida landfall
And crews are ready for any calls overnight.
"The biggest danger is when the power company turns the power back on, and your house has had saltwater intrusion, and it gets into the receptacles. That makes for a good fire," said Fossa.
Even with many levels of damage, several homeowners shared the same feeling of being lucky.
Pasco officials said Pasco Fire Rescue performed about 85 rescues of people from ages 9 days old to 90 years old. Officials stressed the importance of following evacuation orders because rescue crews may not always be able to reach you.