Pinellas County Asks Residents To Make A Plan For 2021 Hurricane Season

PINELLAS COUNTY, FL — The 2021 hurricane season starts June 1 and Pinellas County Emergency Management asks residents to remember three things to survive a disaster. Residents should know their risk, make a plan and stay informed.

Know your risk

Understanding your risk for flooding, storm surge and wind damage is an important first step. It is important to check both your evacuation zone and your flood zone. You can live in an area that is in a non-evacuation zone based on storm surge, but be in a flood zone, which may be a high, moderate or low flood risk. Look up both zones at: www.pinellascounty.org/flooding/maps.htm.

Make a plan

• By pledging to update or create a disaster plan, residents can make the commitment to help our community prepare for disasters. Residents can find examples of disaster plans and pledge to complete theirs here.

• Keep your family safe and save money by creating or updating your hurricane kit now. The 2021 Disaster Preparedness Sales Tax Holiday runs from May 28 – June 6. Qualifying items related to disaster preparedness are exempt from sales tax. Items include batteries, flashlights, tarps, bungee cords, gas containers and more. Click here for a list of qualifying items.

• To help you plan, the Pinellas County 2021 Hurricane Guide is now available in English, Spanish and Vietnamese at the following locations:
• Pinellas County Libraries
• Municipal buildings (Please check with your municipality for updated guidelines regarding COVID-19 safeguards.)

• Organizations who would like more than 5 copies of the guides can also pick them at the following locations:
• Lealman Exchange, 5175 45th St. N., St. Petersburg (Lealman area, right off of 54th). Open Monday – Friday 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.
• The Centre, 1500 16th St. Palm Harbor. Open Monday-Thursday 8 a.m. – 8 p.m. Friday 8 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. and Saturday 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.
• The hurricane guide is also available online in English. Keep a lookout for upcoming Spanish and Vietnamese versions online at www.pinellascounty.org/emergency.

Stay informed

• Use only trusted sources of local information for timely, consistent, and reliable information. Listen to, follow and like Pinellas County Government, your favorite local news station, and the Tampa Bay National Weather Service forecast office.

• Sign up for ALERT Pinellas to receive timely notifications.

• Download the Ready Pinellas mobile app on the Apple or Google Play store.

• Own and maintain a NOAA weather radio – battery operated or hand crank.

For more information on emergency planning visit our website at: www.pinellascounty.org/emergency.

This press release was produced by the Pinellas County Government. The views expressed here are the author’s own.