A small city on the Cotee
New Port Richey incorporated in 1924 and had 16,728 residents in 2020. The Pithlachascotee River, known locally as the Cotee, runs through downtown on its way to the Gulf of Mexico.
During Helene, city officials said rising water from the river and the Gulf got into the sewer system through manholes. Pasco's coast saw water 2 to 5 feet above the normal high tide line, and the local gauge quit after 5.04 feet. One New Port Richey homeowner told FOX 13 it made the previous year's Hurricane Idalia look like an inconvenience. Then Milton raised the Anclote River at Elfers to 26.57 feet, and the county's emergency management director called the rising rivers a 200-year flood event.
Say you are in New Port Richey and what happened.
After salt water or river water
Floodwater is not clean. Stay out if it is near outlets, photograph everything, and read flood damage cleanup before you start pulling things out. If walls stay damp, see mold after water damage.
Other Tampa Bay towns
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