Gov. Scott visits first responders in Hillsborough

TAMPA (FOX 13) - Tuesday at the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office, Governor Rick Scott went around the room, shaking hands and personally thanking local law enforcement, first responders, and emergency management officials for their dedication before, during and after Hurricane Irma.

"Everybody that's shown up to take care us," he said. "They do it each and every day. They do it when others are walking away because they're in danger. We also have to thank our military for showing up. I can tell you, during this hurricane, our law enforcement showed up all across the state, and they're still showing up."

That includes the Tampa Strong Platoon, who returned after a week in Collier County - where Irma made landfall.

"At times like this, even though we were from Tampa, I think that we found that the community and law enforcement really work good together. For the first time in seven days, I really didn't see any political stuff, I saw people helping people," said Sgt. E.J. Diaz with Tampa International Airport Police. 

Tampa Police officers, along with members of Tampa International Airport and USF Police assisted with traffic control and responded to calls for service.

"All we had to do is figure out our mission was to make sure to prevent the loss of property, the loss of life, making sure the people out there were taken care of, " said Captain Carlos Rodriguez with Tampa police.

Governor Scott also thanked the more than 30,000 linemen and women who traveled from as far as Canada to help restore power to almost seven million Floridians - two percent of whom remain in the dark.

"I know everybody wants their power back," he said. "I'm talking to the utility companies and I'm saying, 'We all want our power back. What can we help you do?"

And as Florida recovers from Hurricane Irma, Governor Scott is keeping an eye on Hurricane Maria -- just in case.

"Hopefully this won't happen again," he said. "This seems to be a very active hurricane season. I want to thank everybody in law enforcement for what they did -- highway patrol, our sheriff's departments, police departments, kept our highways open. They just did a great job."