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St. Pete community remembers 89-year-old man killed during Hurricane Helene: 'I loved everything about him'

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Published  October 3, 2024 5:12am EDT
Hurricane Helene
FOX 13 News

Friends remember Helene victim

The heartbreaking stories continue along the beach as the death toll from Hurricane Helene in Pinellas County continues to rise. One of the 12 victims is 89-year-old Jerry Waite from St. Pete.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The Riviera Bay neighborhood in St. Petersburg is mourning the loss of their neighbor, Jerry Waite. He was 89 years old and died during Hurricane Helene.

Tammie Lockwood is a close family friend, heartbroken over losing Waite.

"Soon as we opened the door and seen the mess, I know it wasn't very good. But we still tried, ran through the house looking for him. And then you're thinking, ‘well, maybe a neighbor evacuated him.’ But when I seen his dog, I know he'd never leave his dog – never, ever leave his animals," said Lockwood.

Jerry Waite was one of 12 people who died during Hurricane Helene in Pinellas County. He was 89 years old.

Jerry Waite was one of 12 people who died during Hurricane Helene in Pinellas County. He was 89 years old.

She said they found Waite in his garage. Investigators said he drowned there.

"I loved everything about him. I used to call him Jer Bear, that was his nickname," she said.

Lockwood believes he was turning off the power, just like he told her he would do if water ever got in the home. She said she, along with family and neighbors and urged him to evacuate. When the water began rushing into homes last Thursday night, others went to get Jerry.

Investigators say Jerry Waite drowned in his garage as storm surge caused flooding in his St. Petersburg neighborhood. He was 89 years old.

Investigators say Jerry Waite drowned in his garage as storm surge caused flooding in his St. Petersburg neighborhood. He was 89 years old.

"One of the neighbors told me that he came about midnight, somewhere around midnight, and he wiggled the door. The door was locked. It's all dark in there. So he thought he evacuated, too," said Lockwood.

On Wednesday, Jerry’s favorite chair sat on the curb, empty.

Lockwood said Jerry evacuated for past storms and there had never been any major flooding, so this time, he thought it would be similar.

Investigators say Jerry Waite drowned in his garage as storm surge caused flooding in his St. Petersburg neighborhood. He was 89 years old.

Investigators say Jerry Waite drowned in his garage as storm surge caused flooding in his St. Petersburg neighborhood. He was 89 years old.

Unfortunately, most of the storm victims in Pinellas County were senior citizens in their 70s, 80s and 90s.

Elli Baldwin runs Sunway Senior Living Concierge and is helping seniors displaced by the storm, and sees firsthand how hard it is for them to evacuate.

"Bridge the gap as a community of understanding that some of the technology and some of the things and resources that we just take for granted, that are at our fingertips, that generation doesn't necessarily take advantage of. And we need to be proactive about trying to connect them with that," said Baldwin.

READ: Hurricane Helene death toll rises to 12 in Pinellas County

Lockwood said Jerry had a lot of people who loved him and checked on him, and he was known for giving ice cream to the kids in the neighborhood. He had just lost his wife in May and the neighborhood always took care of him.

"I know they did love him and everybody always was real good about checking on him. But when you're seniors, they're stubborn. They just don't want to leave. And the only thing I would say, not during a storm, just anytime. They're very lonely, too. So make sure you check on your seniors," said Lockwood.

We reached out to the county regarding outreach for seniors when the storms are approaching. They do maintain a special needs evacuation program that you can sign up for.

Jerry Waite was one of 12 people who died during Hurricane Helene in Pinellas County. He was 89 years old.

Jerry Waite was one of 12 people who died during Hurricane Helene in Pinellas County. He was 89 years old.

Pinellas County maintains a Special Needs Evacuation Program to assist residents with medical, functional or special transportation needs in an emergency. Through this program, the County and partners run special needs emergency shelters and provide transportation to shelters for Special Needs Evacuation Program registrants when evacuations are called. Each year, County staff and partners reach out to each registrant on the special needs registry to confirm that their information is up to date and that they still need assistance during emergencies such as hurricanes.

County staff and partners conduct outreach throughout the year to inform residents about the special needs program and other ways to prepare for storms

Some of these outreach efforts include:

Year-Round

  • Staff provide hurricane preparedness presentations, as well as severe weather planning for local organizations/groups and public events throughout the year. This includes senior centers for the Special Needs Evacuation Program.
  • Nine community ambassadors trained to do emergency management outreach in the community.
  • Support for the Storm Squad in South St. Pete, which has ten board members and an additional 20 community partners.
  • Working with five Community Emergency Response (CERT) teams in Pinellas with 331 active members. An additional ten members were recently trained and certified.
  • Pinellas County and the Family Center on Deafness held the third annual Deaf Fest for resources and information for the deaf and hard-of-hearing community on Aug. 10, and the county continues to engage with individuals who are blind and low-vision in partnership with service providers.
  • Pinellas County Emergency Management, in partnership with municipalities and special fire districts, updated the Special Needs Evacuation Registry this year by calling and mailing all registrants to ensure their information is up to date and that they are still eligible. This process ensures that each person’s information is updated in the system so that we can quickly reach and help residents during emergency evacuations. There are over 3,500 registrants in the program.
  • The county also hosts other events and expos to encourage preparedness and advertise the special needs registry.

As a storm approaches

  • As a storm approaches, the county calls every person on the special needs registry in the evacuation zone to arrange transportation to a shelter if needed, and officials continue to publicize the special needs registry while there's still time to arrange for last-minute transportation during an evacuation.
  • Even after the window for special needs transportation ended, the county publicized the availability of free PSTA rides to shelters and free rides from Uber for those with no other way to evacuate.

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