SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. – The 2024 Atlantic hurricane season is expected to be a pretty active one and after some bad storms in recent years, Seminole County leaders are taking action.
On Saturday, the county’s Emergency Management team held its first ever “hurricane action day” with over 150 people showing up.
“It’s really to encourage neighbors helping neighbors; volunteer groups, faith organizations coming together to help each other,” said Director Alan Harris.
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Harris said the sights from Hurricane Ian back in 2022 sparked the event. The storms brought damaging winds and rain with intense flooding that lasted weeks.
“We hope to get a lot more volunteer groups that can help each other and we’re already seeing that. There are already connections being made in there which is just incredible. That’s exactly what we wanted,” he said.
With hands-on learning experiences, like how to safely use a chainsaw and set up your generator, the hope was that these residents could learn and pass that information along.
Even people who have lived around Seminole County for decades like Rosanna Riviera said these reminders are always needed.
“That’s why I’m here. You just never know. Every hurricane is different. Every storm is different so it’s good to have a refresher. This is just an excellent opportunity,” she said.
Even if you could not attend, Harris said now is the time to prepare.
“Know exactly what you’re going to do after the disaster. If you have a generator, know where you’re going to place it. If you have a chainsaw, learn how to use it before the event, not after the event. We see a lot of injuries related to people trying to learn things after a hurricane. That’s again why we wanted this program,” he said.
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