The death toll from Hurricane Helene in Pinellas County rose to eight Saturday morning, Sheriff Bob Gualtieri said in an interview Saturday. According to the sheriff:
One person drowned in St. Petersburg’s Shore Acres. Two people drowned in Indian Rocks Beach. On Treasure Island, one person drowned and another died of a stress-related heart attack due to the storm. A woman in Dunedin died when she went back to her mobile home to collect her keys. The structure collapsed and caught fire. The circumstances surrounding the other two were still under investigation, he said.
All were in mandatory evacuation zones, Gualtieri said.
As of Friday, two deaths had been reported in Tampa as a result of the storm.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
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