Tropical Storm Milton: Pinellas County bracing for storm

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Updated  October 5, 2024 9:58pm EDT
FOX 13 News

PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. - Pinellas County residents in coastal communities and emergency officials are bracing for Milton while continuing Helene recovery efforts.

For two weeks now, the Pinellas County Emergency Operations Center has worked on a Level 1, the highest level. Public Information Officer David Connor said at any given time 100 to 300 staff members are working, "Many of us have been going for almost two weeks, 12 to 15 hours a day."

EOC staff continue to assist residents with recovery efforts. "...that includes collecting debris, doing damage assessments of houses, helping connect residents with FEMA," he said.

READ: Your guide to hurricane season 2024

Simultaneously, he said staff were tracking Milton. He said, "We've been having daily meetings with partners up and down the levels of government. We've been meeting with the National Hurricane Center, with FEMA, with our municipal partners."

Connor stresses the importance of having a plan in place. "If you are not feeling comfortable, if your home is not safe to live in, it's good to find another place to go whether it's with friends or a hotel," he explained.

Indian Rocks Beach resident Bill Goodman said it's been hard to see the two storms impact his community. "The wreckage of people's lives and all of the debris, it's a warzone," he said, "Mold is starting to come in and drains are blocked, and we have more weather coming in soon so it just hurts me to my soul."

READ: 6 FEMA sites open in Pinellas County to help people apply for assistance

Meanwhile, the free community supply distribution station Sara Salt helped create on Indian Rocks Beach is going to be put on pause. "I opened the one little spot and then from there it turned into four tents, and then it was 7, and now it's 8 with two trucks," she said, "People have a better idea after what happened so it's time to just really get yourself together."

Salt hopes residents will heed warnings from officials and look out for each other. She said, "It's important that we all check on each other and find out who's staying, who's going, who may need some help, who needs to get off the island."

For more information for Pinellas County residents, click here.

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