PASCO COUNTY — Andrew Breuer had been going nonstop since Hurricane Helene.
“I learned that we are strong as a team, as a department,” said the captain of Pasco Fire Rescue.
He showed ABC Action News video of a woman hanging on a stop sign, one of many people he helped save from flooding. But then, less than two weeks later, came Hurricane Milton.
“It’s still kind of a blur. Working 14 days straight. 12 hours on. 12 hours off. It’s very draining,” said Breuer.
While Helene caused unprecedented flooding on Pasco’s west side, Milton caused wind damage and pushed water all over the county. Steven Akel was one of many who had to leave his family at home while he worked to help others.
“In these times, everybody is heads down, work until the work is done. And that is a culture we have built here,” said Akel.
As the storms came and went, linemen also went to work, restoring power to tens of thousands.
“You have have a little bit of grit to be a good lineman,” said Kevin Vaughn who has been with Withlacoochee Electric for 28 years.
He remembers all the storms he’s worked on over the years in Florida and elsewhere. “You don’t forget because it impacts you and those around you,” Vaughn said.
WATCH: Pasco first responders look back on difficult but rewarding work after Hurricane Milton
But Hurricanes Helene and Milton literally hit home. “I know from me personally, my power was out for nine days at my own home. So I’m going to help restore power to other people and then going back to a hot house with no power myself,” said Vaughn.
Theo Gomez and his fellow linemen had to wade through flood waters to do their job.
“When you are helping people out there you don’t even think about yourself being tired, yourself being hungry. The people out there, they lost everything. They still want to give you the shirt off their back,” said Gomez.
At Pasco Fire Station 37 and the power company, they learned a lot from last year’s hurricanes but hope for a quiet hurricane season to come.
“I don’t want to see another storm anytime soon,” said Vaughn.
"If there had just been a trooper up there, maybe this whole thing could have been avoided."
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