Preparing for the Next Storm in Tampa Bay By Jennifer Savino

For many Floridians, preparing for hurricane season means grabbing Pub Subs, bottled water, and enough toilet paper for the whole county.  Jokes aside, we know it’s more than that.  Hurricane season begins June 1st and goes through November 30th.  Are you ready? Hurricanes Helene and Milton destroyed our beloved beaches over the course of 13 days in 2024.  So what did we learn?

We are not invincible to hurricanes

Like most, my family did not evacuate for Helene.  People were doing their home prep while arguing about spaghetti models.  We removed outside furniture, plants, grills, secured our boat, and drained the pool.  We charged all of our lanterns, power banks, phones.  We did all of the necessary things to prepare.  So when it was time, we pulled out the family games and waited.  The wind picked up and the power went out.  The storm surge caused the water to rise.  We watched the water rise over the sea wall, then quickly over our patio and into our pool.  Then finally up the step to our backdoor.  This took only a few minutes.  We looked out the front of the house.  It was like our street was Florida’s newest Bay.  Almost as fast as it came in, the water started to recede.  Once morning came, we checked our home for damages.  We were very lucky.  Only exterior damage and some flooding in our garage.  The inside of our home was fine.  Our next move was to check on our neighbors.  Most of our neighbors on our street were not as lucky as we were.  So we got to work.  Pulling rugs out, throwing out damaged goods, washing loads and loads of laundry, moving out furniture, and even scooping water out of a car.  After about 4 days, we had made some progress with our neighbor’s house.  Then we got the news.  Another hurricane was on the way.

Most people were a little scared since we underestimated Helene.  Our family evacuated for this storm.  Milton hit on October 9th.  This storm had intense winds.  When we returned, our only tree within our backyard uprooted and crashed into our fence.  We needed a new roof, patio deck, and fence.

According to Pinellas County damage assessments, more than 40,900 homes were damaged and over 700 were destroyed after Hurricanes Helene and Milton struck.  There were electric cars that had caught fire, boats in front yards, jet skis in pools, kayaks found miles away, and fish in the street. Our favorite restaurants, bars, coffee shops, gift shops, and boutiques—gone.  This kind of damage would take years to repair.

Know your evacuation zone

You can find your evacuation zone on www.pinellas.gov.  In Pinellas County, 14 people lost their lives due to Helene and Milton.  We are not invincible.  Know your zone, have a plan, and evacuate before or when orders are given.  Leaving early is beneficial due to the traffic that will build.  I left a day early for Milton and it still took us 5 hours to get to Orlando. www.pinellas.gov also has a list of shelters and hotels that will accommodate you, your special needs family members, and your pets.  Pinellas County offered fare-free bus transportation to take people to shelters.  There is a special needs evacuation program that offers transportation assistance.  This requires registration before the storm threatens.  The State of Florida even offered free ride-share vouchers to shelters of residents in the evacuation zones.

The Do’s and Don’ts

When there is a hurricane watch or warning, it is fascinating to see everyone rushing the stores for canned food, cases of water, toilet paper, and filling up their cars with gas.  While some things are important to stock up on, others are unnecessary and wasteful.

Hurricane Preparation Do’s

• Make sure you have wind and flood insurance in place before the storm.

• Take videos and time-stamped photos of home, cars, boat, golf cart, business, etc. prior to the storm for insurance purposes.  If a remodel has been done recently, provide proof with receipts.

• Stock up on nonperishable food items.

• Inspect trees on your property and trim or remove any that pose a risk.

• Pick up sandbags from designated pickup sites (note that these are often limited to 10 bags per vehicle).

• Tape or seal windows and door thresholds to help reduce water intrusion.

• Board up windows if they are not hurricane-rated.

• Have a generator available for backup power.

Hurricane Preparation Don’ts

• Don’t buy excessive cases of bottled water—save and fill empty milk jugs with drinking water instead.  These can also be frozen to keep food cold longer.

• Don’t buy extra toilet paper; I promise you will be ok.

• Don’t fill your gas tank unless you truly need to travel; if evacuating within 100 miles, fill only what’s necessary.  Don’t panic-buy fuel—everyone filling up at once creates shortages.

• Don’t focus only on yourself; be mindful of your community and shared resources.

In the aftermath

Check your home for damage and file a claim with your insurance company.  Provide the videos and photos taken prior to the storm.  One thing we learned in 2024 was to separate the trash.  Tree debris, home demo, and regular trash need to be separated or the collectors will not pick it up.

In the unfortunate event you have a total loss, contact your insurance company, FEMA, and Red Cross.  In 2024, local nonprofit Raising Relief Foundation collected items such as paper towels, bleach, rags, dehumidifiers, etc.  We loaded up our SUVs and headed down to the beach to deliver the supplies that our barrier island neighbors were in need of.  Raising Relief Foundation partnered with The Salt Water Hippie which served as a location where people could drop off donations and people in need could “shop” to gather items they needed to get back to some sense of normalcy, at no cost to them.

 In response to what our community experienced in 2024, I recently started a nonprofit called Anchored in Hope of Tampa Bay. The organization aims to help families navigate the difficult days after a natural disaster by connecting them with resources, emotional support, and recovery assistance. To learn more, visit www.anchoredinhopeTB.com.

Jennifer Savino is the founder of Anchored in Hope of Tampa Bay.