Pinellas County Commissioners held an emergency meeting on Tuesday to learn of the situation on the ground in their community, which was devastated by the storm surge that flooded parts of the county as Hurricane Helene struck the area last Thursday evening.

Pinellas County’ elections supervisor is asking the state to grant her office greater flexibility in managing the upcoming elections as the county works to recover from the damage of Hurricane Helene.

Many residents and businesses in Pinellas County got an unprecedented amount of beach sand on their properties during Hurricane Helene and officials say while some of it can be returned to the beach,