PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — Pictures and video showing the impact Hurricane Ian had on places like Fort Myers and North Port is the driving motivation behind Bay area residents like Wendy Kaplan, making sure they’re ready and prepared for hurricane season.
“It’s heartbreaking, really,” Kaplan said. “We really felt so bad and still do. It takes a long time to recover from that.”
She and her husband live in Madeira Beach and own Eagle Parasail in John’s Pass village. She said preparing for hurricane season isn’t an option; it’s a ”critical must.”
The first thing they do is make sure their hurricane kit is fully stocked with the essentials: batteries, water, flashlights, canned goods, paper towels, and a weather radio. They also have a generator. But that’s just for their home. They also have to worry about their business, which is right on the water.
“We always make sure our boats are secured. The docks have to be monitored, so we work with the jet ski company we share space with,” she said. “It’s all hands on deck to make sure everything and everyone is safe.”
The steps they’re taking are right in line with what the county suggests. Pinellas County emergency management director Cathie Perkins said it’s better to prepare for the worst and hope for the best, like the county did with Ian last year.
“I understand the frustration,” she said, speaking about the people who complain about the big one not hitting the area.
“We spend a lot of time preparing our homes and getting everything ready,” she said. “It’s important because if we hadn’t prepared and it hit here, it would have been very devastating.”
Perkins and her team have been busy going over the county’s Ian response to figure out what went well and what they could improve on.
She said the county updated its special needs list and made sure to get an accurate count so they can be there to help them before, during or after a storm.
They’ve also spent time replacing and updating equipment like broken antennas. The county also updated it’s ready Pinellas App, which crashed last year due to the number of people using it.
“We’ve been expanding our bandwidth. We have a backup system,” she said. “If we start to see that it’s slowing down, we can transfer over to that backup system.:”
The app is also offered in both Spanish and English this year.
“It’s important that everyone can use the app,” said Perkins.
Pinellas Co. is also hosting a Hurricane preparedness expo this Saturday, June 3. It will be at High Point Elementary School, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
For more information visit the Pinellas County website.
