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2017 Hurricane preparedness guide

Evacuation maps, shelter locations

If a storm comes, you'll need to know how to get out of town or go to a shelter. Know your county's evacuation routes. Might there be a low-lying area between you and a major route? Study up in advance and have a backup plan. (Note: Some of the maps take a while to load, and it's recommended that you have an updated version of Adobe Flash to display them.)

Hillsborough | Pinellas | Manatee | Pasco | Hernando | Citrus

 

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Surviving the storm

Before a storm threatens Tampa Bay, you'll want to be prepared. If a storm strikes, you'll want to get out of town, or to a shelter. And after the storm, you'll want to survive. Find out how inside the hurricane guide published in print editions of the Tampa Bay Times.

  • Be prepared

  1. Puerto Rico is getting a surge of aid, governor says

    10/01/17 HurricanesTimes wires

    SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — A surge of fuel and food supplies and federal government personnel has begun to arrive in Puerto Rico, the governor of the storm-battered island said Sunday.

    People wait in line for a functioning ATM and a grocery store in Carolina, Puerto Rico, on Saturday. Hurricane Maria devastated the island’s electricity system when it hit on Sept. 20.

  2. From his N.J. golf resort, Trump continues to attack mayor of San Juan, Puerto Rico

    9/30/17 HurricanesBy David Nakamura and John Wagner, Washington Post

    BRANCHBURG, N.J. — President Donald Trump, spending the weekend at his Bedminister golf resort in New Jersey, attacked the mayor of San Juan on Saturday for "poor leadership" and accused her of conspiring with Democrats to criticize his administration's response to storm-ravaged Puerto Rico.

    San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz arrives at the San Francisco hospital during the evacuation of patients after an electrical plant failure, in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on Saturday, Sept. 30, 2017. President Donald Trump is lashing out at the mayor of Puerto Rico's capital city in a war of words over recovery efforts after Hurricane Maria smashed into the U.S. territory.
Trump is out with a series of tweets criticizing Cruz for criticizing the Trump administration's hurricane response. [Carlos Giusti | Associated Press]

  3. Puerto Rico angry at Trump official 'good-news story' remark

    9/29/17 HurricanesAssociated Press

    WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump pledged to help Puerto Ricans recover basic necessities and security in Maria's ruinous aftermath as his homeland security chief tried to escape a tempest of her own making, set off when she called Washington's response to the hurricane a "good-news story."

    Carmen Yulin Cruz, mayor of San Juan, Puerto Rico, speaks at the Roberto Clemente Coliseum in San Juan, in use as a shelter as Hurricane Maria approached Puerto Rico on Sept. 19, 2017. After a U.S. government official called Washington's response to the hurricane a "good-news story," Yulin Cruz responded, "When you don't have food for a baby, it's not a good-news story. Damn it, this is not a good-news story. This is a people-are-dying story." [Erika P. Rodriguez | New York Times]

  4. Behind the lens : Inside a military rescue mission to St. Croix, U. S. Virgin Islands

    9/29/17 HurricanesBy Douglas R. Clifford, Times Staff Writer

     

     

     

    TAMPA, Fla. – It's just after daybreak Tuesday on the tarmac at MacDill Airforce Base where a team with the 43rd Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron prepare an Air Force C130-J for a mission flight to St. Croix. The cargo plane, which is primarily designed to fly equipment and …

  5. How much longer until my debris is picked up? City of St. Pete has a map for that.

    9/29/17 HurricanesBy Sara DiNatale, Times Staff Writer

    ST. PETERSBURG — Still staring at a browning pile of branches and leaves every day thanks to Hurricane Irma?

    Yard debris from the winds of Hurricane Irma line many yards along Pinellas Point Drive South, St. Petersburg, 9/22/17.

  6. Tropical wave heading toward Florida with 50 percent chance of development

    9/28/17 HurricanesTimes staff

    Forecasters continue to monitor an area of disturbed weather, situated over Cuba, that will soon begin to migrate north toward the Florida Keys and south Florida.

    [National Hurricane Center]

  7. Hernando firefighter touched by devastation on Big Pine Key

    9/28/17 HurricanesBy Beth N. Gray, Times Correspondent

    SPRING HILL — A mission of mercy turned into the height of heartbreak for Shawn Neurath last week as he gathered and trucked relief supplies to Big Pine Key in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma's fierce knockout punch there.

    Hurricane Irma brought extensive damage to Big Pine Key.

  8. Vital hurricane hunter plane has failed three times in past 8 days, has no backup

    9/27/17 HurricanesBy Jason Samenow, Washington Post

    A Gulfstream jet, which collects critical data for hurricane forecasts, was flying through Hurricane Maria's swirling winds Monday when the seal on the cabin door failed, emitting a loud noise. The mission was aborted, and the crew returned to NOAA's Aircraft Operations Center — wearing oxygen masks.

    The Gulfstream jet known as Gonzo (N49RF) sits at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Aircraft Operations Center in Lakeland on June 2, 2017. The facility houses NOAA's nine manned aircraft, including the agency's two WP-3D Orion "hurricane hunter" aircraft, named "Kermit" and "Miss Piggy." [ANDREAS LEIVA | Times]

  9. System in Caribbean could develop, approach Florida next week

    9/27/17 HurricanesTimes staff

    The National Hurricane Center is monitoring an area of low pressure in the Caribbean, just south of Cuba, that could develop into a tropical system over the next several days.

    [National Hurricane Center]

  10. Local Puerto Ricans providing relief to relatives suffering on island

    9/27/17 HurricanesBy Tony Marrero, Times Staff Writer

    Oxalis Garcia finally heard her father's voice on Sunday, when he managed to get through to the mainland four days after Hurricane Maria ravaged the island of Puerto Rico.

    Lavinia Rodriguez posed for a portrait at her home in Land O' Lakes. Since Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico, Rodriguez has been working to secure plane tickets for eight of her relatives to come to Florida. Her relatives will start arriving next week, six of whom will stay with her. [MONICA HERNDON | Times]

  11. Maria restrengthens into a hurricane, lashing Outer Banks

    9/27/17 HurricanesAssociated Press

    WAVES, N.C. — Winds and storm surge from what once again is Hurricane Maria lashed North Carolina's Outer Banks on Wednesday as the storm moved by well off-shore.

    A woman stands in the water as Hurricane Maria moves closer to North Carolina's Outer Banks on Tuesday, Sept. 26, 2017. Thousands of visitors abandoned their vacation plans and left the area as the hurricane moved northward in the Atlantic, churning up surf and possible flooding. [Associated Press]

  12. Pasco residents affected by Irma express frustrations, seek answers

    9/27/17 HurricanesBy Robert Napper, Times Correspondent

    NEW PORT RICHEY — The horror stories from Hurricane Irma abounded: lengthy power outages, damaged homes, leaky roofs, downed trees, lanais ripped apart, damaged pools.

    Flooding along the Anclote River was one of several problems brought on by Hurricane Irma in Pasco County.