Talking storms and hurricane season

Added: 2026-05-24

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[00:02:50]>> Streaming from the Tampa Bay [music] 28 Weather Center in studio A.

[00:02:54]This is Dennis Phillips live.

[00:02:57]Brought to you by Generac generators.

[00:03:00]Life is primitive without power.

[00:03:06]Oh, Ryan, Ryan, Ryan. People like, "What are you talking about? Ryan, my daughter?" No, no, no. I'm looking at the comments and we are already responding to comments and Ryan is like, "The rainy season's already arrived."

[00:03:16]No, it hasn't, Ryan. No, it has not.

[00:03:19]Climatologically, the rainy season is something that happens over a period of time when we look at the numbers and the reality of it is in the month of May and the water temperature's still only 80°, we just do not have the energy and the fuel needed for spontaneous rains to begin. Now, there are other things that come into play when it comes into getting rain. And while we have a nice area of high pressure off to the southeast and that's bringing in all that nice tropical moisture.

[00:03:55]The reality of it is when that high moves or when that moisture's gone, we are right back into May, which is a dry month historically, and one where fire dangers can be a big thing. Oh, by the way, welcome to Dennis Wolfe's LIVE.

[00:04:07]How you doing? See, if you're If you're watching on TV, which we know a lot of folks do, uh you're only getting half of the experience. And the other half is I'm looking at it on my phone. These are the comments that come in, and there are always at the very least, even if the show doesn't have a lot going on, there's always the entertainment value of the comments. Cuz there's always drama, and there's always conversations, and there's a little bit of tomfoolery, and a lot of shenanigans. So, I'm just telling you, it's always best to be watching on TV on the spot, which we appreciate you immensely, as well as following along right here on your computer or on your phone. So, how about yesterday? You know, we we finally got And talk about classic Florida, right? Because some folks got 3 or 4 inches of rain.

[00:05:02]Some folks had 3 or 4 drops of rain. And that is just the way Florida rolls in the rainy season, which again, we're not there.

[00:05:13]But, while tomorrow, I still think we get some decent coverage, we then start to dry out as we usually do in May, on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. And then by the weekend and into next week, another disturbance comes this way. We got a lot going on tonight. We're going to be talking to an expert on hurricane kit preparedness, on a group that handles the Bay Area, handles recovery, handles preparation. And that's all going to be coming up in our second and third block. So, bring your questions for hurricane kits, for how do you prepare your home, for all that stuff, and we're going to be doing a lot of that in the upcoming weeks.

[00:05:56]Obviously, with hurricane season right around the corner. But before we get to that, let's do some weather. Let's talk about some weather and see what we got going on out there. There is a live look at radar, and there are still some showers out there.

[00:06:08]By the way, Daniel, how you doing? Good to see you.

[00:06:11]Kenneth in Palm Harbor, good to see you.

[00:06:13]Charlotte, nice to see you.

[00:06:15]Um So, Anna Maria is saying no sound.

[00:06:20]So, yes, there is, Anna Maria. Yes, there is. Let me Let me bump up the audio. Somebody is saying the audio is a little bit low. So, I can bump that up.

[00:06:28]Um we've got Lithia and in Lithia, we've got Dominique, we've got Mary talking heat lightning, which is always a plus, one of my favorites. Maria, nice to see you. Stephen in Clearwater, as always.

[00:06:39]Thunder in Largo right now. Randy in Brooksville.

[00:06:42]And um yeah, so we definitely have some rain going on. And let's just take a live look at the radar. There it is.

[00:06:49]Do a little tracking for you, shall we?

[00:06:51]So, let's go ahead and zoom in. Let me tell you, folks in Manatee and Sarasota County, man, they got some serious, serious rain earlier on today. In fact, check this out. I'll go ahead and and loop the last 3 hours, and boom, right there along the coast. Really, really heavy rain. But now, that rain has ended, and it's kind of moved into southern Pinellas.

[00:07:14]So, you've got the Rays taking on the Orioles. I think the Rays are at home, I believe.

[00:07:21]Did not look at the schedule. I think they are. Tell me if I'm wrong. If I'm wrong, I'm wrong. But regardless, there is a look at where the rain is, from St. Pete back towards St. Pete Beach, Tierra Verde, over to the Skyway, Madeira.

[00:07:33]And over the last 15 minutes, let's see where this has moved.

[00:07:39]Actually, the individual cells are trying to move a little bit that back toward the southwest.

[00:07:44]And that is an interesting situation because we also have some rain moving out over the bay and moving into Safety Harbor for round two.

[00:07:54]But this is moving more of an east to west. So, you know, you've got these little micro scale and meso scale phenomenon. In other words, the the little variables that come into play in our area, whether it's the bay breeze, whether it's the gulf breeze, whatever the case may be, those really, really come into play in terms of how these things are going and the direction in which they're moving.

[00:08:17]But when we have a southeast wind, the overall pattern leads to increased moisture coming in with better rain chances. All right? When you have a northeast wind, the majority of the time that brings in drier air into our region.

[00:08:36]So, as we've said so many times, look, the amount of moisture will vary. Whether we have a tropical air mass or what will vary.

[00:08:44]But ultimately, many times what the biggest factor is, it's the wind.

[00:08:51]And that's it. More often than not, it is just the wind direction.

[00:08:56]If we get an east-southeast wind, we're living large and we're getting our rain in the afternoon and evening. Not everybody.

[00:09:02]Decent coverage.

[00:09:04]But if you get winds out of the west, it all moves in the opposite direction. And then unfortunately, most of the rain is inland and over to the east coast and not for much. Ali's at the Trop. Okay, so the Oh, yeah.

[00:09:15]Ali's an Orioles fan.

[00:09:17]So, yeah, I figured she would be there um because yeah, she So, they are getting rain at the Trop right now. Now, we know the Trop's indoors, but there's some lightning out there as well.

[00:09:27]All right, so let's look at again, there's the rain that we had earlier on in Sarasota that has now ended.

[00:09:35]Zooming right back into where the heaviest is, just to the west of the trough, and that is moving to the west.

[00:09:40]Tracy's like, "Finally some rain has RSVP'd for St. Pete."

[00:09:44]Yeah, Winter Haven's not getting so much yet, Crystal. You're the ones who are kind of hoping for more of a westerly flow.

[00:09:50]All right, outside right now where it hasn't rained, it's around 90°.

[00:09:54]Brooksville, Crystal River, 90. Where it has rained, it's in the 70s. 75 in St. Pete, 78 Bradenton, 77 Sarasota, 77 in Venice. Paco, how you doing? Good to see you.

[00:10:08]So, temperatures today hit the low to mid-90s. The hot spot before the rains arrived was Sarasota at 94°, Tampa 93, St. Pete 93.

[00:10:18]Cool-looking sunset there with a thunderstorm, some thunder in the distance at the airport in Tampa, 82°.

[00:10:25]Humidity is 71%. Winds now coming in off the Gulf, south-southwest direction, 10 mph.

[00:10:30]Tonight's a big basketball game, with game one, the Spurs and the Thunder.

[00:10:34]That is going to be a fun series.

[00:10:37]I'm really looking forward to that one.

[00:10:39]And I will tell you this, as much as much as I am a fan of the Thunder, for obvious reasons, I love their name, and the Thunder is a powerhouse, this is my opinion, I think the Spurs are going to give them some problems.

[00:10:54]I'm not saying the Spurs are going to win that series, but I'm telling you, I the Spurs dominated the regular season against them. The Spurs can match up with those guys. I'm just saying.

[00:11:03]I don't know what the I think the Spurs are getting like six or seven tonight, I think. I'm I'm not 100% sure.

[00:11:09]But boy, I I I kind of like the Spurs in that spot. I'm just saying. All right, let's go back.

[00:11:16]Where were we? Let's go back to WSI.

[00:11:18]Take this full.

[00:11:20]All right. 93 the high, the morning low 72. Normals are 89/71. There it is.

[00:11:25]South-southeast flow continues.

[00:11:28]And if you look at futurecast, same setup tomorrow. Sunny in the morning, sunny early afternoon.

[00:11:36]Robin, very nice to meet you as well.

[00:11:39]Yeah, I was over at Innisbrook yesterday and I kept telling people like at 5:00 it's going to rain and that's when they should leave.

[00:11:45]And it was kind of funny because you know, I was over there, you know, I was just hanging out, going to the pool, getting some sun, whatnot. And every now and then I would I would stand up like I was about to leave and I saw people watching. They're like, "Oh man, the weather man's about to leave. We're going about to get rain." I'm like, "No, no, no. I literally had to go up to people like, "No, no, I'm just standing up. It's it's okay." But come 5:00, the skies opened up and it did rain. So, Robin, very nice to meet you as well.

[00:12:12]So, let's take a look at future cast through tomorrow.

[00:12:16]Through Oh, yeah, it was a You got You girls were having some fun. I mean, that was a That was a mom's Mother's Day trip.

[00:12:24]The women from Westchase, they were and they were They were kind of stocking if I was leaving. They're like, "All right, is he leaving? Oh, man. Nope, he didn't leave. We're good." And I said till 5:00. I think you guys were good till 5:00.

[00:12:34]So, there's a look at future cast tomorrow. I do think we're going to have some storms much like we did today from 4:00 to 8:00.

[00:12:42]And then that slightly drier air comes in and the coverage begins to drop as it normally does in May on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Holiday weekend at Ram's Look at those temperatures, man.

[00:12:54]That's some steady temperatures. Lower 90s right on through the weekend.

[00:13:00]All right, Memorial Day. Well, let's go to Wednesday and Thursday and Friday first. Drier, less rain, scattered stuff, coverage might be 20%.

[00:13:09]Saturday into the weekend, I do think there's going to be an increase in coverage and I'll show you why in the models in just a second. Southeast winds 5 to 10 knots, water temperature 81° in Clearwater. The beach tomorrow, classic.

[00:13:22]Sunny in the morning, 4:00, there come the storms.

[00:13:26]4:00 to 8:00 tomorrow, definitely some storms out there.

[00:13:32]And there's the 7-day.

[00:13:35]Rain coverage tomorrow about 40% to 50%, 20% to 30% Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and over the holiday weekend. And quickly let's look at the models and I'll show it to you. Then we got to hit a break.

[00:13:46]So, high pressure anchored off the southeast coast of the US. That is exactly what we want for our southeast wind. Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, nothing much, just scattered stuff. See what I was saying, Ryan? That is not rainy season pattern, my friend.

[00:14:05]Not even close.

[00:14:09]That's the GFS. High pressure sitting right there.

[00:14:13]That gives us that kind of flow that we're looking for out of the southeast.

[00:14:18]But you still have to have the moisture.

[00:14:20]This were July, we'd be getting pummeled every day.

[00:14:25]And let's look at the Euro real quick.

[00:14:26]The Euro is a little more bullish.

[00:14:28]There's Tuesday, there's Wednesday.

[00:14:31]Still though, not a lot of coverage.

[00:14:34]Thursday, Friday.

[00:14:37]Saturday, see not a lot. But then, by late Saturday, and late Sunday, and late Memorial Day, some decent coverage. As the moisture builds. And you can see it's the entire southeast where the moisture builds. Not just a micro or meso scale feature like we get from the summertime rainy season.

[00:15:01]You learn something, Ryan? Don't be listening to those other guys. I'm telling you, they're going to feed you some nonsense.

[00:15:08]Anyway. All right.

[00:15:10]We got to hit a break. We're going to be back to talk all you need to know, hurricane preps and recovery, and what we did with Helene and Milton, and what we're looking ahead to the future in 90 seconds as Dennis Phillips Live continues.

[00:15:25]Okay, Jose, come on over.

[00:15:28]All right.

[00:15:33]Everybody, this is Jose coming up. Jose, this is everyone. We are in a commercial break now, but we are still live and streaming. So, I will hold the chair here cuz it has a tendency to move when you jump up.

[00:15:43]>> Okay. Got it?

[00:15:44]>> Oh, yeah. I see it. All right, chair moves. Perfect. All right. So, I don't know if we want that there. Derek, talk to me. Where do you want the kit?

[00:15:53]Do you want me to just to like bring it up like lift it cuz it What What Are you going to open it up and show what's >> open it up and show what is in there.

[00:16:00]Yeah, let's do that.

[00:16:01]So, this is the radio. Okay. Which is an emergency crank radio.

[00:16:06]>> on in 45 seconds. There's already questions coming in here. Um We'll save it for when we're actually back out of the commercial break. Well, wasn't hurricane prep question. What's a good way to sanitize coolers to store extra drinking water?

[00:16:18]>> Oh, my. An interesting Um someone's flying out of Italy. Oh.

[00:16:24]Wants to know please no rain Friday flying out for your trip to Italy, Debbie. You're going to be fine. Don't you worry about it. You're going to be okay.

[00:16:31]All right, we are back that when that break goes down it's a 21 seconds, so we're good. And um I will introduce you and we'll do it We'll just answer questions and just talk about what you all do.

[00:16:41]>> Yeah. Yeah. All right. I with you. I I think the Carolinas are going to have are going to have a better chance for a storm, Corey.

[00:16:48]All right, we're back in 3 2 How you doing everybody? Welcome back to Dennis Phillips Live and we are almost to hurricane season. That's right. And we are here with Mr. Jose Garcia. Thank you.

[00:17:04]>> And Jose, where are you from? Uh originally you mean?

[00:17:07]>> Well, with the group that you're with.

[00:17:09]>> Oh, Rebuilding Together Greater Florida.

[00:17:11]Okay.

[00:17:12]>> to be called Rebuilding Together Tampa Bay, but as we grew unfortunately because of all these storms throughout the state, we changed our name to Rebuilding Together Greater Florida. And we've got some video here of some of the things you do. Tell us a little bit about what your organization does and how people can get involved.

[00:17:30]>> So, we are we deliver residential repairs and rehab services for low-income owners throughout the year, regardless there is a hurricane or not.

[00:17:40]That's the type of services that we provide. We work with foundations, corporations, the local municipalities, and a lot of volunteers that want to come and and help us to do the work in those houses. So, we focus a lot in roof replacements, air conditioning, window replacements, bathroom conversions, and then volunteers come around and do exterior painting, landscaping, beautifying the house. So, not necessarily all have to be inside the construction, so people can see what we do all the time. Now, you asked me if this show goes into Manatee and Sarasota County, which it does. We I mean, we cover the whole state, we cover the whole country, honestly, but our broadcast goes into Sarasota and Manatee as well. And you said those folks are still dealing with the impacts from Helene.

[00:18:28]>> yeah. No, we have people in Pinellas and Pasco right now, Hillsborough County, Manatee, Sarasota.

[00:18:36]All of them are still have been impacted tremendously by Helene and Milton. We have a great amount of partners and funders and corporations who are helping us to deliver the repair services.

[00:18:47]Unfortunately, we cannot do a total renovation of the house, but we make sure that with our work the house is in living conditions. So, we may finish the kitchen, the bathroom, the bedrooms, and the floor still is bare concrete, but you know, within time you can figure it out and and do it yourself.

[00:19:08]We're still dealing with uh impacted by Ian. Oh, wow.

[00:19:12]>> So, we get funding from Lee County and Charlotte County as well to uh address Ian-impacted people. I mean, we're It was a great amount of homes that were impacted and and it was a pretty It is still some uh uh uh some difficulties. You have houses that were impacted, but they truly didn't notice it until later when rain starts coming more often and then they realize. So, presently we're helping a lot of homeowners who were impacted, but they didn't realize it at the time. They just eventually um uh noticed it water coming through the roof or or the windows and and things like that. So, >> Now, you um you have a hurricane kit that you guys put together and um and you said there's actually a way that the folks can actually get one of these and and and so So, tell them So, what do we got here? So, So, let's go through this.

[00:20:09]So, where we realized it was that the problem wasn't getting people prepared to deal with hurricane. There is no way you can find ways to prepare unless your roof and your windows and your entire body of the house is protected, okay?

[00:20:27]And that costs a lot of money.

[00:20:29]The problem that we found especially with Helene and Milton, which we know with Ian, was communication. Was to know what's going on. Once you lose power and the battery in your phone dies, you need to recharge it. And if you don't have electricity, you recharge it with a solar panel charger. I've got a couple of these. They work really well.

[00:20:51]>> And that This is a crank radio. crank radio which allows also to send a SOS signal.

[00:20:59]Okay, so um couple of questions. Uh one was asking the name of the company again. Rebuilding Together Greater Florida. And and how do folks Is it Is there a website based the same name?

[00:21:12]>> Sure. They can They can either Google us as a rebuilding together greater Florida or go to uh rtgfl.org.

[00:21:20]Okay. And uh there is a if they you want to communicate uh just send us an email at [email protected], and we have five people in the office just responding to those info uh emails.

[00:21:34]>> Okay. Uh got to hit a break. We'll be back in 90 seconds and we'll go over more of uh of what we have here and how you can prepare yourself as we up come in this hurricane season. Back in 90 seconds.

[00:21:43]>> Mhm.

[00:21:46]Okay.

[00:21:47]Um James, such a wonderful community service group. So, he's familiar with your So, that's from James. I don't know if you know James Rawson. Um but So, what is that See, what is this? So, with the high cost, what's the best way to prepare your home on a budget? Is that something that that y'all >> talk about it. Okay, perfect. All right, we'll do that when we come back out of the break. Uh we have a minute six. Um yeah, I I have one of these as well.

[00:22:12]They're also a flashlight. They're flashlights.

[00:22:14]>> And um and the radio and you know, what's helpful is because after post-hurricanes, you know, sometimes we we broadcast our signal on local radio stations. We have a partnership with the radio stations. So, you won't be able to see it, but you'll be able to hear it. And it was always interesting because I had to tailor what I do on TV because I realized people weren't watching, they were listening.

[00:22:38]Yeah. So, I wouldn't go and say, "Look at this right here." I would have to describe it differently in the coverage because people are are listening on the radio as opposed to watching on TV cuz they might not have TV signal.

[00:22:48]All right, we are back in 25 more.

[00:22:51]Um yeah, there's what is rtgfl.org is what what Charlotte just posted in the thing. Um Yeah, they're Okay, they're posting definitely all the links for you here.

[00:23:02]Um Where do you get the solar chargers?

[00:23:05]Ann wants to know.

[00:23:06]Well, um we actually have uh the bags uh ready to be We still haven't decided.

[00:23:14]Okay, we're back. It's always challenging because we're talking and answering questions live on social and streaming, but at the same time people are on a commercial break. A lot of questions are coming up. Um right off the bat here we were talking about uh the the chargers and the solar panels.

[00:23:29]And how get them? Yes. So, what what they can do is just keep up with our website. We are about to have an event uh in June where we're going to distribute 450 of these bags to the community where they can come and and pick up. We're going to be with all the nonprofits. Um I still don't have the final information, but it's going to be in June. And it's all about housing. Not necessarily only to be prepared for uh uh a hurricane. It's all about housing. And uh we should be distributing 450 of these bags, which is distributed 380 uh with uh another company and and and which is finished uh uh putting all this together with Progressive and we are going to distribute in June. Awesome. And the website >> we will go do the same um in in August and September assuming that we don't have to change our mode from preparing to recovery.

[00:24:31]>> deploying recovery.

[00:24:32]>> Mhm. Makes sense. And again, the uh the website is rtgfl.org.

[00:24:36]>>.org And that's on the website I mean that's on the comments. rtgfl.org.

[00:24:41]And they were asking about these crank radios. And I was talking about it was interesting because we have radio partners. We've done this post when a hurricane comes people lose their power.

[00:24:49]Very often they lose their television.

[00:24:51]So, our radio partners do they take our signal on TV and they broadcast it on the radio.

[00:24:55]>> Absolutely. But what's different is it I you know, I go on TV and I say, "Oh, look at this area of rain." You can't see it because you're listening. So, I have to change my delivery on air and instead I will say, instead of saying look at this, I'll say, "Okay, there is an area of wind between Pinellas Park and and whatever." But these crank things are awesome because there's your power, right? It also has a flashlight.

[00:25:19]It works, you can see that. And it You said it also has an SOS signal.

[00:25:21]>> It say it has an SOS signal. So, when because we noticed communication was the worst piece out of it. If you are stranded with water all around you, you need to find ways to ask for help. And these solar chargers uh these uh phone chargers work very well. I have several of these as well. Um they are flashlights, but obviously you may be without power for a prolonged period of time, so you put this outside, it can charge >> your phone. And you can charge your phone. And you can, you know, put outside during the day and you can still charge your phone at night, obviously, cuz it will it will maintain it. So, That's right. That's right. And there are a few more things in there that he helps you. Uh this is the typical envelope where the bag where you put the most important documents. You always have to have this regardless uh because that's what you're going to need. And we also have the first aid kit. You will be amazed how many people get hurt because they don't have any electricity, they can't even see where they're walking in the night. And we have come out This is the result of our team asking questions, surveying homeowners impacted already. They are the ones who told us, "I was completely disconnected with the world." And and you got to know what's going on right after, because that's where the help comes.

[00:26:39]>> Right. Absolutely. And these crank radios can be a lifesaver when it comes to that. I'd storm chased in Beaumont, Texas and we actually ended up using a crank radio to listen to the local radio station to see what was going on.

[00:26:51]And uh, we have one more break to hit.

[00:26:54]Uh, again, the website is rtgfl.org.

[00:26:58]We'll be back with our last segment as Dennis Phillips Life continues.

[00:27:03]This show just flies. It just It goes so fast.

[00:27:05]>> fast.

[00:27:06]>> There was another question I had. What was it? It was um, You just asked You want to ask the question about how to prepare. Yeah, okay. All right. So, we need to to answer that question.

[00:27:17]>> And that And And then we'll We'll have about 3 minutes when we come back.

[00:27:20]>> scout. Mhm. That's That's the last hit.

[00:27:22]Here's the um, let me get the Oops, sorry. Let me get the See, there's an advantage of not wearing shoes. I can pick up things that fell with my socks. Yeah, it is doing >> [laughter] >> all of that.

[00:27:35]And I put that back in there. Yeah, I have all of these in my kit. Every one of them I have that same stuff. Oops.

[00:27:41]I want We'll get it. We have a shot We got 45 seconds. We're good.

[00:27:47]Sorry, Dennis.

[00:27:48]>> No, we're good. Anybody else have any more questions? Um, let's see.

[00:27:52]Um, I've had a hurricane radio since Charlie North Since Hurricane Charlie back How long have you lived in this area? I've been living 22 24 years. Been with the organization 20. I actually was the first executive director and grew up from there. Were you here when Charl- in O'Farrell? I don't know. Was it the first So, you were with Charlie and and Irma. Oh, the budget. That's right. What What What is the budget? Yeah, what about uh, budgeting for hurricane supplies? Yeah.

[00:28:20]All right. We're back in 10 seconds.

[00:28:22]Oops.

[00:28:24]I'm going to put this back here.

[00:28:27]Okay, back in 3 2 It flies. I was just saying to Jose, this show goes so fast and we have so much so much information and >> be all day. Yeah, and we could. And we have we so so much to talk but we do want to talk a little bit about budgeting for preparation and and for how to how to put your kits together.

[00:28:44]What What's your suggestion on that?

[00:28:46]>> Well, it all depends the number of people in your home. If you have children, you need to make sure that you need to feed them. So, you need to have food for them, water for sure. Making sure that you are ready to escape in case and make sure you have enough gas in your car. And if you have to leave town because you've been ordered to leave, you need to be prepared for that. Have cash is always good because it's the best way to go with cash because you may be ending with no be able to use your credit cards and so forth. Now, if you choose to stay in your house, your biggest concern is going to be always what can come through the window. Mhm. I mean, ideal is that you replace your roof today if it's 15 years or older. Mhm. But, that's hard to do. That is hard to do. They're they're very expensive. Although, if you have certain income limit, we could help, okay? Windows, protect your windows making sure that they're they're no flying objects around.

[00:29:51]You know, plywood is always good. So, maybe it's time to measure your windows and be able to install plywood just in case something happen.

[00:30:00]Plywood works if you have one story home. Once you have two story, now you need to hire somebody to help you to install it when it happens. So, here's what we're going to do. We're we're off in 45 seconds on TV. We're going to continue on broad on streaming and social and answer a few more questions coming up. I do want to mention one thing for the TV viewers and this is so important and I know you know this, too.

[00:30:21]Generators. Never ever run a portable generator in your garage or in your home, ever. Carbon monoxide fumes are deadly. It happens every time. You have to keep it outside to get your power for the inside.

[00:30:38]>> You don't see it. You don't even smell it, neither. Exactly. Yeah, so so folks, thanks for checking in on the spot. As always, we appreciate it. We'll be back tomorrow night and we're going to continue for a few minutes on social.

[00:30:49]Have a great night.

[00:30:51]And we're in the break, we hit it. All right. Yeah, that that's something that is just I remember with it was I think it was Irma and um storm moved onshore and there was a family in Polk County and there was a family of four that died from carbon monoxide poisoning because so many people they're new to the area, right? They know that they want a generator cuz they've heard, hey, it's great to have some power after a storm, but they just never knew you could not run it for long.

[00:31:18]>> Yeah, you got to be very careful. You know, now they're coming with these solar panel generators as well. Really?

[00:31:24]>> Yes, they're amazing. And and they're a little bit expensive, but the reason is because they're still having I guess they're having hit the market really the way it's supposed to be. But you have solar panel generators may not have the same power that the gas generator, but you will have enough again to charge your phone, to um you know, charge your computer, your laptop and um you know, trying to get internet, things like that. I mean, it does make sense, I guess. I mean, like for I guess the question would be would they power your refrigerator or would they power, you know, that and I guess it depends.

[00:32:01]>> wouldn't it's all depends the type of solar panel generator because at the end of the day you're going to charge it with a battery that is going to run it.

[00:32:08]So, yes, but you wouldn't be able to uh plug in too many um devices into it.

[00:32:16]Um the well, and that's right. That ultimately, I guess that's your your question. I mean, I guess you could probably buy more expensive one that probably has more horsepower, if you will, more power for it.

[00:32:26]>> You got those wonderful ones that now they can come and install it and the the Generac or something like that. Anybody wants one of those.

[00:32:34]>> Matter of fact, yeah, if you look at if you look at our sponsor here on the 7 day or whatever and that's >> [laughter] >> That's what it is. I want one of those toys also. Yeah, there it is. You can get it from the Generator Supercenter, right there.

[00:32:50]>> [laughter] >> But yeah, it's um you know, I I remember you know, after Irma, we lost power for about a week and I think so many folks think, "Okay, we're going to ride the storm out. We're going to make it through." And then once the storm's over, they figure, "We're okay. We made it through." They forget, you're in Florida, 90° heat, no power for a week.

[00:33:09]It's miserable.

[00:33:10]>> It's miserable.

[00:33:11]And and it could be dangerous. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And you know the other thing it is that we're we're making campaigns or so and uh and Baluchistan area, they haven't been hit with a storm the way we did here with Helene for quite some time. So, you know, people forget.

[00:33:29]People forget that that that they don't have any as as life as we have it because we just got 2 years ago and it was right after Ian and we have Idalia and all those things. But you know, you got to be prepared at all time. And now hurricanes go all the way because all the way to northeast and Yeah, and it's it's challenging too because there's Florida Floridians always had an apathy, you know, that it's not going to hit us. Oh, we're you know, we're we're going to be okay. And I think Helene and Milton was eye-opening for them. I I I hope that the memories remain fresh in their mind in the sense because Max Mayfield used to be the director of the National Hurricane Center and he said Floridians suffer from hurricane amnesia because we forget how much of an impact it is. And you can argue it in South Florida. I mean, the last really major storm in South Florida, you can argue it was Andrew. Mhm. I mean, you know, they've had many since, but not as many in the last 15 years as previous.

[00:34:28]>> Nothing impactful. Yes, exactly.

[00:34:31]>> view wise. It was impactful seeing all those houses completely blown away.

[00:34:36]>> And Ian in Fort Myers also area, I mean, it's we're still dealing with homeowners impacted by Ian. They're expecting about 10 years worth of recovery when it comes to housing. And housing that was impacted, water came through, nobody was able to do anything. And every time we go and and take a look at what they they're even worse than they were before. I mean, some of them needs to come down. And you know what was awful about Ian, as we all know this, is the track kept changing and a lot of folks in that area just did not think they were going to get it.

[00:35:08]>> No.

[00:35:09]And and so, you know, preparations are hard enough as it is, but a preparation when you don't even think it's going to come, you're not going to make that prep.

[00:35:16]>> need to assume that something is coming.

[00:35:17]>> Yeah. You need to assume. Look at what happened with Nicole and Malia. It was a tropical storm, but flooded in Titusville area. We just finished about 25 repairs of homes impacted by Nicole.

[00:35:33]Wow. Yeah, and >> And it was flooded.

[00:35:36]It wasn't actual rain.

[00:35:38]>> Right. It was >> coming through the roof.

[00:35:39]>> Right. It was surge. Uh one other thing, um we were talking about um Charley. And back in '04 and and you you were here, but 6 hours before landfall that track was directly over Tampa.

[00:35:56]>> Mhm. 6 hours. And then it made that last second turn and hit Punta Gorda and nobody in Punta Gorda was expecting it.

[00:36:04]>> It was 2004 when we had five storms coming through. And one actually went to the Atlantic and came around.

[00:36:09]>> Jean.

[00:36:10]Jeff, Jean, Francis, Ivan, and and Charley.

[00:36:14]>> I tell many people that because I used to live in DC, I tell many people about that and they can't believe it. No, no, no. It went all the way to the Atlantic and it's like, "Oh, I haven't done enough now damage. Let me go back."

[00:36:25]>> I lost my roof in that house from in my house from that from that storm. Yes, I did. I lived in Tarpon at the time. Um they're asking Michelle asked do you fill bathtubs with water to flush toilets? You absolutely do. Yeah. Um you want to fill I have a list a really great hurricane kit list that I'm going to post coming up soon over the years of what my family's put together and every a washing machine you fill a washing There's a lot of things that people don't realize that they can do and maybe you're not going to drink that water, but you can use it to flush the toilet or whatever the case may be.

[00:36:56]Usually it's 1 gallon of water per person per day. That's usually the the the estimate of what you need and there's always the the expression the first the first 72 is up to you and usually that's the mindset that you're not going to have help from folks for the first three to five days.

[00:37:12]>> everybody is just in the rescue part.

[00:37:15]And when you are on the rescue uh uh part, nobody's going to pay attention to your needs. If you are alive, that's all we need to know. Yep. And it's not that they don't care, it's that there's not enough people.

[00:37:27]>> No, it's not enough people. You need to find whoever really got hurt. Yeah. And and the same thing with evacuations and we're going to talk all about this coming up soon. It is you do not have to evacuate if you're on the water, you don't have to evacuate hundreds of miles. You can evacuate 10 miles. You just want the old expression remains the same. Hide from the wind, run from the water.

[00:37:47]>> That's right. And you know, and Helene was a perfect example.

[00:37:50]>> And you know, I I I think evacuations is such a hard thing for people to do because that means to leave your house behind and and and it's very hard. People feel much safer in their own home even when they know that powerful storm is coming their way. Mhm.

[00:38:09]So, it's very hard for people to leave home. Very hard. And unfortunately and I in our storm watch special which is coming up next week, I interviewed other folks in Pinellas County and 12 people died. 12 people drowned in Helene. And this is something that we're going to talk a lot about, but the overwhelming feeling is they didn't have any place to go. In their minds, they had no way to get out cuz they didn't have a car, and they had no place to go. And that's just not the case. Pinellas County, and I know many other counties, offer transportation and offer a place for these people to go. You just have to let them know in time.

[00:38:49]>> In Because once the wind starts blowing, it's too late.

[00:38:52]>> Yeah. And they have a lot of volunteers who will go with their trucks and everything to pick them up. Yeah.

[00:38:57]>> So, yeah, they're being preparing. I think I I think our area is more prepared than ever precisely because we just leave uh went through Helene and Milton. And and to some degree, we also were impacted by Idalia and Ian. And it's it's pretty close. So, uh our agencies are much more prepared. Um Now, every day we get more people living here coming to live here, and those are not not quite uh understanding what it is or how to get prepared. I wasn't when I came in 2002. You know, I I didn't understand the power of a hurricane other than what I see on TV. Sure. You know, um but uh which is the other part. We need to make sure we constantly educating people about the danger of any storm. Again, it can be a tropical storm and damage your house and and you are in trouble. And that was a valuable lesson for me as well, cuz I used to catch myself in saying, "Oh, it's just a tropical storm." And that when it comes to wind damage, tropical storms normally don't do a lot of wind damage, but they can push a ton of water.

[00:40:08]>> Uh-huh. And remember Eta? Uh-huh. A few years back?

[00:40:11]>> Yes. I mean, Eta had about a 6-ft surge for just a tropical storm. And I remember before you lived here, back in 1995, Josephine, tropical storm, I ended up walking in Pasco County, uh we we took we were covering it, just a tropical storm. I was on US 19 with waist-deep water from just a tropical storm. So, normally they're not going to cause a lot of damage with wind, but the water is You must respect it. You must respect it.

[00:40:39]>> Yeah. And and unfortunately, with water, if you wait too long, you're stuck because nobody can come and get you once the water's high. And damage your house big time. Yeah. You're talking about mold and mildew after that. You need to You're dealing with that? Is that stuff that you're still dealing We need to mark the As soon we are okay to go to the houses, we go and do the marking guiding of the house. So, we make sure it dries up and then a month or two, depends how the funding comes, we start to go back to the houses and make sure we we build back.

[00:41:11]Well, and so many people are saying they feel like they have PTSD after after I'm Helene and Milton, just because this Again, most folks who lived in this area have never gone through that kind of a storm before. And I'll say this again, Helene, which brought all that water, was still almost 150 mi offshore. We got that kind of surge with a storm that was well over 100 mi offshore. Imagine if it had been offshore.

[00:41:37]>> lucky.

[00:41:38]Well, and it's so I I I struggle with those words because we were. I mean, I know there's a lot of people who said, "Uh Dennis I wasn't lucky, I lost my home." So, I guess I could I can say it could have been a lot worse.

[00:41:50]>> Yeah. Yeah. If number-wise of people impacted, affected, and maybe even uh life losses. Absolutely. Yeah. I mean, we had 12 people drowned, and like I said, in talking with Pinellas County folks, uh the majority of those people that they had had expressed concern to neighbors and whatnot that they talked to afterwards said they had no place to go. In their minds, they had no place to go, and they had no way to get out so they were just going to ride it out. If they had known, if they had known, and that's my that that is my goal that when I'm on TV and a storm is coming I am going to over and over say, "If you're on the water and you think you can't get out, you can get out. You just have to ask the right people."

[00:42:31]>> Yeah, and and you got to get out.

[00:42:32]>> Yeah. And you got to get out.

[00:42:34]>> So. Stick with her and we'll come to you. Well, thank you so much for coming out. I really appreciate it. It was great and Sorry about all the mess I did with the bag. This is awesome. And and if you do me a favor, could you um email me when the next event when you >> Absolutely. It's going to be in in I'll make sure I share it with everyone.

[00:42:51]>> And and then I will post it on here and we'll talk about it on the show.

[00:42:54]>> Absolutely. Thank you.

[00:42:55]>> Everybody, thanks again. Jose, appreciate it. You guys have a great night. Thanks for watching and we will see you on tomorrow night's edition of Dennis Phillips Live. See you guys.