South Pasadena couple gives update one year after Hurricane Helene

PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — Hours after Hurricane Helene sent floodwaters and storm surge into homes all over the Bay area, families were clearing out their homes and assessing the damage.

Dave Winkler and his wife, Connie, had a lot of damage in South Pasadena. We watched as they washed their shoes that had been floating in floodwater. The couple cleared out everything they owned. A year later, and their house is a shell.

Dave can still picture the kitchen, then and now. “It looked like the spin cycle on a washing machine, refrigerators upside down, couches floated and displaced themselves,” he said.

Their bedroom and bathroom on the day of the storm and 12 months later are empty without the water-soaked carpet and bedroom set.

Then there’s the pool. It was dark green when we were here last; now, crystal clear.

“I had fish in the pool, and when I tried to drain it a few weeks later we actually had barnacles growing on the side of the pool,” Dave said.

Dave said he used chemicals to clean and cut drywall to prevent molding. But there’s no real remedy to wash away the pain Hurricane Helene’s storm surge left behind.

“It’s just sad. All of that effort, time, money and memories,” he said.

The memories that date back decades in their house.

“I gave the house to my mother, and she lived here for 20 years,” Dave said. “And when she passed, I came over and of course 20 years had gone by, and it needed a little bit of remodeling again and I decided to really expand the footprint of the house.”

The couple had just finished renovating their South Pasadena home right before Hurricane Helene.

“As you can see from my permitting in South Pasadena, my final, final inspection was on Sept. 12, 2024, just weeks before the storm,” he said.

When they think about what their house looked like one year after the storm, there’s still a flood of emotions. Especially when they think about what was lost.  

“I don’t care if you’re at Home Depot or out to breakfast; they’re still talking about it. It was absolutely traumatic for mostly everybody. It’s just how you deal with that afterwards,” Dave said.

They were fortunate to be able to purchase a new home after living in a rental property all year.

“Our entire lifetime now fits in half of a bedroom. That’s all the stuff we were able to save,” Connie said.

They’ve tried to sell their South Pasadena home as is — but they want what it’s worth, so they’re going to renovate once again.

“We just recently signed an agreement to hire a contractor because I didn’t want to go through it again. It was just too difficult,” Dave said.

The only work they’re doing this time around is keeping their spirits up and remaining optimistic.

“Let’s hope it’s a onetime thing and that we can put this behind us,” Dave said.

They’re putting it behind them and on the market for someone else to enjoy.