Hurricane Expo - Rob Herrin Hillsborough Fire Rescue

Hillsborough County is holding its annual hurricane preparedness event Saturday (June 13th). The Disaster and Recovery Expo is taking place at the Feeding Tampa Bay facility at 3624 Causeway Boulevard, from 9 a.m. to noon. We speak with Hillsborough Fire Rescue's Public Safety Chief, Rob Herrin, about what's going on there. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Gordon Bird here beyond the News. We're of course moving
into hurricane season. It began June first, and of course
that means getting ready, and that means local hurricane expos
by cities and counties across Florida. Hillsborough County is holding
its Disaster and Recovery Community Expo on Saturday, June thirteenth,
at Feeding Tampa Bay. It's from nine am to noon.

(00:22):
We have Rob Heron, who is the Hillsborough County Fire
Rescue's Public Safety Information Section chief here to talk about it.
Rob Heron, thank you very much for joining us on
Beyond the News.

Speaker 2 (00:33):
Thank you for having me. Gordon.

Speaker 1 (00:34):
Well, first of all, there's a lot that people are
going to be able to find out and learn, which
will especially be helpful if they haven't been through a
hurricane before, haven't lived in a flood area before. So
talk about some of the offerings you'll have at this
expo coming up on Saturday.

Speaker 2 (00:53):
So this really is an event for all ages, if
you are new to the area, if you are a
seasoned veteran of Hillsborough County in Florida. We invite everyone
to come down. We're going to have over forty local
agencies that are going to be present, and the whole
design is to assist residents and learning how to best
prepare for hurricane season and then, should the worst occur,

(01:15):
navigate any kind of post storm recovery. You know, two
years ago we were hit and we were severely impacted
by two hurricanes, and we are just making sure that
our residents, visitors, and those new to the area are
prepared should that happen again this year.

Speaker 1 (01:32):
One of the things you're going to be demonstrating at
the expo is how to properly use sand bags. And
that's a big issue and it's something that if you're
not experienced with them, if you haven't been in a
flood area or dealt with hurricanes before, there's a right
way and a wrong way, and you need to kind
of know how to utilize those sandbags to get the

(01:55):
best result in terms of protecting your property.

Speaker 2 (01:58):
Absolutely and knowing the different and knowing that it can
be the difference between saving property and even you know,
lives in some cases. So we will have that demonstration
at the Expo on Saturday. Sandbags are you know, something
that the citizen can can employ to protect their home
from flooding and we will demonstrate the effective, most effective

(02:19):
way to do that so that you can keep you
in your safety, your family safe.

Speaker 1 (02:23):
Now, of course, everybody around this time of year. Uh,
it used to be concentrated around the sales tax holiday,
but now that's you know, more or less a different
situation there. People go out and buy different supplies related
to hurricane preparation. You're actually offering some things for free

(02:44):
at the expo.

Speaker 2 (02:46):
We are we're going to have giveaways of essential hurricane
and disaster kits, dehumidifiers, will have outdoor work boots, portable
pack in plays, even five gallon pot water containers, things
that you know, you might not even know you need,
but they'll be on display and then you can potentially

(03:07):
walk out with one on Saturday.

Speaker 1 (03:09):
And you bring up the water containers. I mean, that's
that's something that might not have occurred to you, but
you know, you're going to want to have some water
handy in case they're they're unable to provide service because
of the hurricanes. So having you know, five gallons of
water ready to go, you know, it's that's one alternative.

(03:30):
The other alternative, of course, being your bathtub, and that's
that's another example of planning for uh and being proactive
in the face of a disaster that could happen.

Speaker 2 (03:42):
Correct, And that's the overarching message that we try to
get out is be prepared. We've seen in the past,
even you know, before the storms of two years ago,
where a storm threatens the area and you you see
shelves at the stores where you know those provisions are
are empty. They're gone. There's no water, there's canned food.

(04:02):
So that's not the time to start accumulating those supplies
for hurricane season. Now's the time to do that. Now's
the time to you know, prepare your family, prepare your home,
have a plan, execute that plan as it comes. But
leading up to that plan, have those provisions needed to
survive for a few days post event should there be

(04:23):
no electricity or water. Water is a big one, and
you know five gallon pottable water containers. You know, you
think about just Okay, I'm gonna I need enough water
to drink well, you probably want to flush a toilet,
you might want to take a shower or clean yourself. Like,
there's a lot of other needs for water than just
what you consume. So that's all some of the information

(04:44):
that will be present and provided on Saturday.

Speaker 1 (04:47):
And you'll also be showing off your capabilities including airboats
and portable charging stations and rescue equipment. And hopefully, you know,
nobody will get stranded by the water, but it's good
to know that it's there. And this is by the way,
this is going to be happening at feeding Tampa Bay.
If you could describe how to get there, it's we

(05:10):
People may not be aware. They just moved in there
within the last few years into that great warehouse space
where they do so much for the community.

Speaker 2 (05:19):
Yes, it is at the thirty six hundred blocks thirty
six twenty four, specifically thirty six twenty four Causeway Boulevard,
right in the middle of Tampa, so it's pretty centrally
located for Hillsborough County proper. We you know, encourage you
to make your way down there. It's nine to noon.
You got a pretty decent window of time to come down.

(05:39):
We will have some breakout sessions scheduled at ten and
ten thirty. That's really the only time specific events we
have going on. But bring the kids. We will have
a fire engine there, as you said, we'll have airboats,
we have a rescue vehicle called a SHIRP that's that
can access land and water. We'll have that there and
we'll have a brush truck there from the fire department.

(06:00):
You mentioned the charging stations, the assets that come out poststorm,
either from fire or rescue and emergency management, just so
that should the worst happen, we're prepared, we're ready to respond,
and we'll have those assets on display for interaction with
the crowd that comes on Saturday from Hillsborough County Fire Rescue.

Speaker 1 (06:20):
And once again it's nine am to noon Saturday the
thirteenth at Feeding Tampa Bay on Causeway Boulevard. Rob Heron
with Hillsborough County Fire Rescue, their Public Safety Information Section Chief,
thank you very much for joining us on beyond the
News