Hurricane seminar urges residents to have a plan

With the start of the 2010 hurricane season this month, county officials have a simple message for area residents.

"Plan, prepare and protect," said Tony Morejon, community liaison for the Hillsborough County Office of Hispanic Affairs. "We want you to worry about this stuff."

Morejon led the first of two free hurricane seminars at the Hillsborough Community College SouthShore campus on Wednesday.

The event was a collaboration between the county, HCC SouthShore, and the Ruskin-SouthShore Chamber of Commerce. About 40 people attended, including County Commissioner Ken Hagan.

"For a topic that important, I would like to see standing-room-only because this is information people need," said Melanie Morrison, the chamber's executive director. "But, after it was over, I was very encouraged to see people walking up to Tony and the other emergency officials and asking them questions and seeing if they would come speak at their church."

Morejon also spearheaded a Spanish-language presentation last night.

"We do more and more of these (seminars) as people ask for them," Morejon said. "We were originally doing one for the Spanish-speaking population in the area, and Melanie asked me if I could do one in English, too."

The seminar was of particular interest to Ruskin residents, who would find much of that area underwater in the event of a major hurricane and the resulting storm surge.

"Basically, if you're west of I-75, you're at risk," said Morejon of the southern part of the county. He displayed storm surge projections to illustrate his point.

Morejon and Larry Gispert, director of the Hillsborough County Emergency Management Department, also had plenty of information that pertained to all county residents.

"I always tell people that 99 percent of the time, the weather in Florida is beautiful, but a very small percentage of the time, it's dangerous," Gispert said.

As of June 9, there were 18 named storms - and eight hurricanes - predicted for the 2010 hurricane season, which officially began June 1 and will continue until Nov. 30.

Morejon and Gispert also implored residents to prepare a disaster supply kit and to leave their homes if the order is given and they live in an evacuation area or mobile home.

"I've said it many times before, but I'll say it again - the only person in this world who can guarantee your safety is you," Gispert said.

For information, call (813) 236-3800 or visit www.hillsboroughcounty.org/emergency/hurricaneinfo/home.cfm