TAMPA, Fla. — There’s prepared. And then there’s Ronnie Cole level prepared.
Despite the Saturday morning rain, he was one of the first people in line at the City of Tampa’s third annual hurricane expo.
WATCH: At Tampa expo, hundreds use the eve of hurricane season to get prepared early
He drove away with sandbags, water, and other free supplies.
“Wasn’t prepared last year, so I’m making sure I’m more prepared this year,” he said.
Hurricane Milton packed a punch for his neighborhood, and like so many others, he was caught off guard.
John Antapasis, the city’s Emergency Management Director, is hoping last year’s shock will inspire more to get prepared early as hurricane season starts, rather than waiting until the last minute.
“It wasn’t a direct hit for us, but there were a lot of impacts for the community, especially Helene,” said Antapasis. “Getting prepared early is going to lower all of that stress if we have any threats of hurricanes this year.”
The city is also preparing itself after learning a couple of lessons last year. According to Antapasis, it needed more equipment and more teams of people because of the almost back-to-back hurricanes.
“So we’re better prepared so that if we have to do that again, we’re going to be able to respond longer,” he said.
But it’s not just personnel and equipment. In a news conference Friday, Tampa Mayor Jane Castor said the city’s also been hard at work clearing storm drains and ditches to hopefully prevent or lessen any flooding.
"To date, our stormwater team has removed over 500 tons of debris from our stormwater systems,” the mayor said.
As the city does its part, residents like Sandy Elliot are doing theirs, and they hope others will do the same.
“Come out and prepare yourself for the what-if, and it’s always the unknown that catches us off-guard,” Elliot said, as city workers and volunteers loaded supplies into her SUV.
For a list of hurricane resources across the region, click here.
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