St. Pete Hurricane Expo helps prepare residents for active hurricane season
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - St. Petersburg had its annual Hurricane Expo on Thursday, and hundreds of residents came to load up on sandbags, flashlights and first aid kits. It comes ahead of the official start to hurricane season on Saturday, June 1.
NOAA recently released its seasonal hurricane outlook for the Atlantic basin. Due to warm waters and a diminishing El Niño, the agency believes the year could be ferocious.
It's warnings of an active hurricane season that keeps lifelong St. Pete residents like Karen and Bruce Wilbur alert.
RELATED: NOAA issues its most aggressive hurricane season forecast on record
"Nervous. But just you know, preparing, you watch the weather," said Karen Wilbur.
"We’ve left before, we did live in a flood zone," said Bruce Wilbur.
The hurricane expo also comes as AAA released concerning data showing 27% of Floridians said they would ignore evacuation warnings and of those who would evacuate, 64% said they wouldn't leave unless it was a Category 3 or stronger.
MORE: Over 1-in-4 Floridians would ignore evacuations during hurricane: AAA
The City of St. Pete and its emergency management team are hoping to change that mentality, especially as many Floridians are getting ready to experience their first hurricane season. St. Pete Mayor Ken Welch said there's a lot of people they need to reach as the city continues to grow.
"There are a lot of folks who are new to the community, and they might not understand the power of a hurricane or even an unnamed storm," said Welch.
"We try to meet people where we're at and help them prepare for their specific situation," said Amber Boulding, the St. Pete emergency manager.
She said one of the biggest battles when it comes to hurricane preps and response is complacency.
READ: Your guide to hurricane season 2024
"We want to take the mentality or the focus from people off of that direct landfall to what impacts could we receive. And for us, that storm surge is a really, really big risk," she said.
And, they said those who choose to stay in harms way when they’re supposed to evacuate can put first responders in harms way. Boulding said last year with Hurricane Idalia, there were almost 80 high water rescues for people who didn’t listen to the warnings.
"Its a new day. It's not a time where you should ignore a warning, because at a certain point, we're not going to be able to get to you," said Welch.
Welch said flooding mitigation is something the city is focused on 365 days a year, and they’ve been successful in getting some federal grants to address those issues.
St. Pete residents can get 10 free sandbags, available year round at the Pavement and Traffic Operations Building, 1744 9th Avenue North Monday-Friday from 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
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