Floridians were hit hard by Hurricane Helene

Florida resident Brian Gagnier and his family saw water entering their Holmes Beach home. They pick up shoes and other things from the floor and put them on tables or beds – anywhere to put them on a higher surface.

They even used towels to try to stop the water from seeping in – something Ms Gagnier called “stupid” in retrospect.

Then there was a loud noise.

“My family and I looked at each other,” the 29-year-old told the BBC. “Then the water started pouring.”

The door to their garage swung open – the driveway bent due to the flooding from Helene. Ms. Gagnier said the flow reminded her of rapids in a river.

The family was shocked. Ms Gagnier grabbed her two dogs – Logan and Sunny – her purse and portable chargers. He put his pet chinchilla in a cage and placed it on the longest piece of furniture he could find.

The water quickly rose up to their shoulders.

He and his family had to swim out of their home – which is on an island off Florida’s Gulf Coast.

“Everybody was screaming and panicking,” she said. “Whatever your worst idea of ​​what this storm is – that’s what we’re seeing.”

Mrs. Gagnier and her family ran to a neighbor across the street. They ended up rescuing two elderly neighbors whose house was engulfed in flames. He says the cause is unclear but appears to be related to the golf cart battery.

Her family lives in an evacuation zone and staff warned those left behind that “nobody’s going to pick us up” in an emergency, she said. When he looks outside, he sees sofas, chairs, a bench and even a car floating. The water was over his mailbox at some point in the evening, he adds.

“I can’t believe this is true. The eye of the storm didn’t hit us directly,” said Ms. Gagnier. “This island is devastated. Everywhere I look, it’s in ruins.”

Resident of Anna Maria Island ML Ferguson he told the BBC that homes and businesses are seeing water pouring into buildings as the storm approaches.

The roads now look like rivers, he said.

The water soon filled the beachside bar where he works – the Bridge Tender Inn Dockside & Tiki Bar – with waves crashing and pieces of seaweed sloshing around the tables.

“We persevere,” he said. “We maintain the attitude of ‘this too shall pass.’

By the time he returned to his home, water was starting to seep into his balcony.

“Oh my god, it’s the second step,” he told the BBC in a telephone interview. “My house is about floods.”

Mrs. Ferguson quickly moved some tables to put things on them to prevent the flood water from damaging the property.

But while he was speaking to BBC News someone drove into his driveway, causing the wake to flood inside.

“The water is coming in,” he exclaimed before hanging up the phone trying to shut it off.

Cannon Greggan oyster farmer in Wakulla County in Florida’s Big Bend, has spent the past few days trying to protect his farm by submerging it in the ocean.

His farm was destroyed once before, during Hurricane Michael, a category five hurricane that hit the Florida panhandle in 2018, and Mr Gregg said he was keen to learn from that lesson.

“Hopefully, and nothing is certain, the farm is sitting well and safe on the ground,” he said. “But anything is possible.”

To weather the storm, Mr. Gregg plans to go hunting in his hometown of Tallahassee with a friend who has a shelter.

The city is also in the path of a hurricane, and has not experienced a storm of this magnitude in recent memory.

“Right now it’s a ghost town. Everything is closed. Everything is planned. ” he said.

Denise O’Connor Badalamenti he’s seen countless storms in his decades living in Florida, but Helene is on top of him more than ever.

“I think it’s going to be him,” the 62-year-old told BBC News from his home in Bradenton, which he lives a few streets from the water, as the storm approaches landfall.

“I feel like we’re always in the thick of things but then we get away at the last minute but I don’t think we’re going to be lucky again.”

His mother’s house has been flooded six times in the past years and in the morning the water was already creeping up their driveway. His family has closed all the doors, hoping to stop any flooding.

“This one is just huge. It’s scary,” said Ms. O’Connor Badalamenti.

Following the guidance of emergency officials, he said he has gathered supplies and has a variety of food ready in case they lose power.

“We are prepared for the worst.”

Michael Bobbitta mussel farmer on the island of Cedar Key in Florida’s Big Bend, said some people in his community have decided to stay despite the warnings.

“The last few hours have been a huge effort to persuade people to leave,” Mr Bobbit, 48, told the BBC on Thursday, before the storm hit.

“Here in Florida, we believe we’ll just get it out, it’s not a big deal. But this is not one of those storms.”

He added that the locals were trying to, “put in as many buildings as we can”, as well as board up the windows and found clam farms on the island.

“The attitude is sad,” Mr Bobbit said.

“Many people when they leave the island hug each other and cry, saying ‘I hope we have a home to return to.’

Mickey Moore54, has lived in his home in Tallahassee for about 15 years and the worst he has seen come out of the storm is his power.

He said this worries him.

His home is about 20 miles (32km) from the Gulf of Mexico – and in the storm’s path.

“The fourth stage – it’s too big,” he said, taking a break from a game of Monopoly with his two sons and his wife.

“We’ve been lucky in past storms,” ​​he adds. “We don’t take it for granted.”