Now that Larry Gispert, the former chief of emergency management with Hillsborough County is retired, Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn is taking it upon his shoulders to be the scolder in chief when it comes for people in Tampa Bay area to be ready to evacuate should a serious storm be headed the Cigar City's way.
"When someone hears me on TV say it's time to leave, it's time to leave," the mayor said. "Because you may die. And so folks have to understand we're not crying wolf, we're not playing games, when we say it's time to go, it's time to go. We don't care what your reasons are. We don't care if you want to protect your pets, we don't care about your goldfish, we care about you."
Buckhorn was joined by Tampa area Democratic Congresswoman Kathy Castor, as well as representatives from the state, FEMA and the National Weather Service.
This article appears in Aug 18-24, 2011.