VOICES

REMEMBER: Today is the first day of the rest of your life!

Is Gulfport Hurricane Ready?

Evacuation shelters, by design, offer only a roof and floor space during a hurricane. Within 72 hours. they are supposed to transform into emergency shelters, providing water, food and cots. The Red Cross decides where supplies are needed and sends them by truck. The Tampa Bay Planning Council study, The Phoenix Project, predicts that during a Category 3 [or greater] storm, southern Pinellas will be an island. After the storm passes, all evacuation and supply routes will be blocked or destroyed and no Red Cross trucks will get through. How long will this last? There is no public information on how the county or Red Cross plan to deal with this. The residents of Gulfport need the City of Gulfport to be proactive in addressing this life or death situation. (P.S.: Look at the Pinellas County flood zone map and notice the red line running from the St. Pete airport to Bay Pines hospital. This will be the path of northern Tampa Bay storm surge runoff after a hurricane. I am looking for any information on plans to deal with this. –David O’Brien, Gulfport

Corrections

Last week, The Gabber wrote that “The Nutcracker” was the St. Petersburg Ballet Conservatory’s first live show since COVID. The studio hosted a live show in August and October. We apologize for the error.

The Gabber welcomes and encourages letters and commentary. One letter per person, per month. All letters must be signed with your real name, and should be as brief as possible. Letters may be lightly edited for content, clarity and length. We will not print letters that incite violence, include personal attacks on private citizens or that are intentionally misleading or inaccurate. Letters sent to the Gabber for print will also appear online and on the Gabber’s social media pages. Commentary posted to the Gabber’s website and social media pages may also be used in print. Opinions expressed here do not necessarily represent the views of the Gabber owners, advertisers or staff. Send letters to news@ thegabber.com or mail them to 2908-B Beach Blvd. S., Gulfport, FL, 33707.