PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — The Pinellas County Sheriff's Office is urging people and business owners to prepare for potential hurricanes now. That includes emergency access permits for people who live on the barrier islands. It allows people to visit their homes after a mandatory evacuation initiated by a hurricane.
"It was really scary, especially for my parents, like I said, it was when they just moved here. My parents were petrified," said Jessica Gilley who lives at Madeira Beach.
Gilley and her parents moved from Kansas and said when Hurricane Idalia came through, they didn't know what to expect.
"We were used to going to the basement, not a long term, days and days of is our house going to be wiped out today?" said Gilley.
They were under a mandatory evacuation, and when they got back after the storm, the priority was to check on their belongings.
"It is imperative to have the permit so they can get to their homes and check out what's going on," said Gilley.
Residents said not being able to access their homes can cause anxiety and fear. That's why the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office is urging people and business owners to register for emergency access permits.
"If you don't have that pass, you can't come back," said Linny Ryland, who works at Ka' Tiki.
Ryland works on Sunset Beach and said the barrier island she lives on was closed off during Hurricane Idalia.
"We had high gusts of winds, and we had water surges that came up to the building, not under the building, we had a lot of flooding on the streets," said Ryland.
The permit also limits looting and burglaries of homes that are unoccupied during a mandatory evacuation. The permits are free, and people and business owners can register for one through their local city government.
"Hurricane season is here, and they are bound to happen, so being prepared makes things much easier for everybody," said Amanda Sinni with the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office.
A state report says hundreds of frail elderly nursing home residents were stacked side by side, head to toe in a small church with no working air conditioning or refrigerator during Hurricane Helene.
