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Going to be prepared or wait for FEMA?

We're talking about hurricane season, which starts June 1. And local emergency officials suggest you have a plan now.

By LORRI HELFAND
Published March 17, 2006

LARGO - As the city gears up for another hurricane season, Largo Fire Rescue officials are urging residents to get prepared too.

"Two years ago Pinellas County received a wakeup call, and that wakeup call was Hurricane Charley," fire Chief Jeff Bullock said.

With hurricane season just 11 weeks away, residents should make sure now that they have a plan in place, said Karry Bell, Largo's deputy chief of emergency management. Hurricane season is from June 1 to Nov. 30.

Largo's fire department offers hurricane preparedness seminars for civic groups and neighborhood associations. The city's public access channel, LTV 15, will broadcast educational hurricane programs as well.

Residents are urged to learn their home's evacuation level and know where they plan to go if they have to evacuate. And because mobile homes are so vulnerable, people who live in them should be prepared to evacuate regardless of the evacuation level, Bell said.

For residents who evacuate, the best option may be staying with friends or family or checking into a hotel. For other evacuees, a shelter can be an alternative.

Evacuation levels are based on an area's vulnerability to a hurricane storm surge, a powerful dome of water that rushes through coastal areas.

"The rising, moving water impact is something we can't mitigate," Pinellas County Emergency Management director Gary Vickers said.

Because wind and other storm impact aren't considered in determining evacuation zones, you should think about reinforcing glass doors and windows no matter where you live, Vickers said.

Shelter and transportation are available for people who have medical conditions or disabilities or can't evacuate themselves, emergency officials said. If you think you will need those services, you are urged to contact your local fire department or Pinellas County Emergency Management to register well before hurricane season begins.

Vickers said Emergency Management is also refining a plan with Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority that would transport people from specific bus stops to designated shelters.

Other municipalities are ramping up their hurricane preparedness and public education plans, too.

In Clearwater, city officials are readying a media campaign to teach residents what they should be responsible for - namely, finding shelter and having food and water to last at least three days.

"It is impractical to think (the Federal Emergency Management Agency) is going to show up immediately after the storm," City Manager Bill Horne said. "We need to be prepared."

Forecasts for the 2006 hurricane season predict 17 named tropical storms and nine hurricanes, with five of the hurricanes with winds 110 mph or greater. This year may not be as bad as last year, but experts say Florida is in a multidecade trend of increased hurricane activity and intensity, Vickers said.

If Pinellas County was struck by a Category 5 storm, it could experience a 24-foot storm surge, temporarily turning the county into two islands, with the rest below water.

In Largo, only a strip 4 or 5 miles wide on the city's west side would remain high and dry, Bell said.

"If you haven't prepared in the past because you didn't feel it happened often enough or threatened the area often enough, you really need to rethink that strategy," Vickers said.

Times staff writers Eileen Schulte, Vanessa de la Torre and Aaron Sharockman contributed to this report. Lorri Helfand can be reached at 445-4155 or at lorri@sptimes.com

Learn more about preparing for a hurricane at the Pinellas County Emergency Management Web site, www.pinellascounty.org/emergency or the city of Largo's Web site, www.largo.com For information about hurricane preparedness seminars, call Largo Fire Rescue at 587-6714. Forms for special needs shelters and evacuation assistance are available by contacting your home health care provider, your local fire department or Pinellas County Emergency Management at 464-3800.

[Last modified March 17, 2006, 01:55:23]