This is a production of WEDU PBS, Tampa, St. Petersburg, Sarasota.

[music] Coming up a year after Hurricane Helene, Tampa Bay is still recovering.

Thousands of homes rendered a total loss.

We talked to St. Pete Mayor Ken Welch about city workers who became hurricane heroes in the days after Helene.

And the hours before Hurricane Milton.

And we take a closer look at people who do not see themselves as heroes, but certainly are.

To the recipients of their work.

Join us for this special episode of Florida This Week.

[music] Welcome back, everybody.

I'm Lissette Campos.

It is hard to believe that this September the 11th will mark 24 years since the nine over 11 terror attacks.

It remains a singular moment in our history when the nation watched first responders run towards the danger.

But these first responders aren't the only heroes among us.

Take, for example, our hurricane heroes during last year's devastating season.

Take a look.

On September 26th, 2024, Hurricane Helene battered the Tampa Bay region from 170 miles offshore, churning in the Gulf.

It's category four winds whipped up storm surges close to eight feet high in coastal communities, coupled with 6 to 12 inches of rain in a short time frame.

What I'm seeing more is it doesn't have to be a direct landfall to still have a big impact on the area, and that usually is water.

St. Petersburg was inundated with 6.3 feet of storm surge in Clearwater Beach.

The surge was 6.7 feet high away from the beach in Hillsborough County.

Old Port Tampa and East Bay were hit hard.

The only way we're getting people off the island right now is by boat.

Storm surge is between 6.8ft to more than seven feet high.

The state's first fatality from Helene was recorded in Ybor City.

The 23 year old man was a passenger in a minivan killed in tropical storm force winds when a road sign on I-4 came crashing down when Hurricane Helene was finally over in Pinellas County.

More than 26,000 homes had been flooded countywide in Sarasota and Manatee counties.

Bradenton Beach reported more than 90% destruction in the town.

Polk County escaped relatively unscathed, as Helene passed west of it overnight before it made landfall in the Big Bend area.

The bulk of damages in Polk were caused by fallen trees and power lines.

And just 13 days after all of this and Helene came Hurricane Milton, a category three.

And joining me in studio is St. Pete Mayor Ken Welch.

To talk about the hurricane heroes from your city.

Again, thank you for joining us.>> Good to be with you.

So in the piece that we just saw, we go from everything that was happening with Hurricane Helene, which is a lot, a lot.

And then we end the piece by saying, and 12, 13 days later, Hurricane Milton.

Take us to that moment for you as a mayor.

Your staff is exhausted.

They've been working all of these hours after Hurricane Helene, and now they're preparing for Milton.

With all the debris that's out there in the danger of becoming dangerous projectiles.

What?

Take us to that moment for you.

What was that like?

Well, I think what the community really needs to know is the sense of calm and professionalism throughout our team, from Amber Bolding and Megan Orlando, our EMS team who led that effort.

There was never any panic.

It was very efficient, businesslike, what we need to do to get set up in this 13 day window from trying to get as much debris off, off the ground to helping folks that have already been impacted.

Many of our staff had already been impacted, so their homes are damaged, but there was never a loss of focus.

Our team prepared.

I think we did an excellent job in preparing the community for really what was an unprecedented second hit from what had already been a major storm with hail in.

Your employees in the Parks and Rec department did a Herculean task, right?

They had all this debris out there, and you really you everyone sent them out there and said, we need to get this off of the street so it doesn't hurt the property, hurt people, puts lives in danger.

Do you have any metrics that you can share with us, and what are some of the hours that they were working?

A lot of folks don't know that.

They basically work nonstop and just try to get a couple hours of sleep in.

But what I convey to folks when we talk about it is we moved more debris from Helen and Milton than Irma, Ian and Adelia combined times five.

So those three hurricanes had about 370, 380,000yd of debris.

Helen and Milton had two point 1,000,000yd of debris.

So it's exponentially more.

And we were able to move it using our team, using our contractor, even using hometown haulers, which were folks that we hired throughout the community who had a truck, a license and insurance.

They moved 5000 loads in between those two hurricanes.

And we got that all done in 90 days, which was just unprecedented to move that amount of debris.

We know folks were just frustrated by the sheer amount of debris, but we said, let's target the 90 days.

We'll get it done by basically by year end.

And we met that target because of some really dedicated staff and our great contractors.

We've talked about the Parks and Rec department or their other departments that.

Really every administration, whether it's housing, neighborhood services or public works, certainly community enrichment, which includes parks and rec and even city development administration, every administration, every department had a role in helping us prepare for this storm.

Weather the storm and then recover.

And these folks are still working on that effort now.

It hasn't been a year yet.

No, it hasn't since Halloween.

And so we've done an incredible amount of work in this year.

And that work will continue with helping folks to rebuild.

Do you think that they understand the how grateful our residents are to them, or do they say, well, we were just doing our jobs?

I think they understand it.

Certainly there are some frustration.

You know, a week after the storm and there are just piles of debris everywhere.

Folks are frustrated and we totally get that.

But I think overall, as I'm out in the community, folks say, look, we understand this is unprecedented.

Folks that have lived here all their lives have never seen not only one storm, but back to back storms and a community having to come together.

And it tested, you know, our preparation, it tested our infrastructure.

We learned some things that our infrastructure is not built for this level of storm, storm surge.

We had to, for the first time, had to shut down two wastewater treatment plants.

Tell folks, don't do your laundry.

Don't flush your toilets based sheerly on the level of storm surge that we've never seen in St. Pete's history.

So I think it really reset us as a community on what our expectations are and what we need to do to meet that level of of impact from sea level rise and environmental changes.

But I think the community as a whole came together as we expected them to.

Thank you so much for joining us.

My pleasure.

Helping us shine the light on some of the unsung, everyday heroes that we have in our community.

Thank you so much.

We want to remind you of the Florida Storms app.

You can download it on.

Download it to your cell phone and laptop to have updated weather information throughout the hurricane season.

Just enter your county information and you'll get up to date emergency information that's specific to your area of interest.

Alerts come from official sources, including advisories from the National Hurricane Center.

You also get advisories of lightning and strong storms, evacuation zones, and a whole lot more.

These are free, life saving public media resources designed to help our community.

[music] The Tampa Bay region is rich in everyday heroes who are working year round quietly and don't typically get a lot of attention from employees at local nonprofits to teams at research centers, just doing their job means being a hero to someone in crisis.

This afternoon, we're joined by Clara Reynolds, who's the president and CEO of the Crisis Center of Tampa Bay, which is home to Transcare Medical Transportation Services.

We're joined by Sharon Boyce, who is the executive director of the foundation at the Lions World Vision Institute.

And we're joined by Gates Garcia, nationally syndicated podcaster, the founder and CEO of We the People Media and a Tampa native who shares the stories of everyday heroes across the country.

Welcome, welcome.

We're so happy that you're here.

Thank you.

Clara.

I'd like to start with you.

Explain to our viewers what Transcare Medical Services is.

So Transcare Medical Transportation Services is a division of the Crisis Center of Tampa Bay.

And we provide a host of of transports of emergency medical transports.

Whether somebody calls 911 in a medical emergency, or they are having a behavioral health emergency that they would fall under the Baker or the Marchman Act, meaning that they're a danger to themselves or somebody else.

We provide that transportation so that law enforcement or fire rescue doesn't have to do that.

And we provide it 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Um, and that we provide roughly about 26,000 transports every year, but we answer about 62,000 calls from people right here in our Hillsborough County area who are in some form of medical or behavioral health crisis.

And these are folks who are responding in some very dark, stressful moments for a family.

Absolutely.

You know, nobody calls 911 when they're having a good day, whether they're having an emergency and they need law enforcement or they need medical or fire.

So our staff have to be very specially trained to be able to not only assess for medical issues, but also to be able to de-escalate situations not just with the patient, but with oftentimes people who are with the patient.

And this doesn't just happen in people's homes, right.

This can happen on the streets.

This can happen in a hotel.

It can happen at a sporting event.

And what is always so incredible for me is that the average age of our medical, our medical technicians, is about 23.

So these are young individuals who for many of them, it's their very first job.

And they are making in and I'm not exaggerating sometimes life or death situations, as I was saying to gates, sometimes people call 911 when they have a broken toe.

Some people call 911 when they're having a stroke, and so our staff never know what they're literally going to walk into for every single call.

And they just do an incredible job every day.

And that's that's the thing that, you know, Gates and Clara and Sharon we were talking about is that, you know, these are folks that you've described.

And if you were to ask them, do you think that you're a hero?

They would say, no.

Absolutely not my job.

Exactly.

Gates, do you find that that's a common theme when you're interviewing people all over the country for your podcast?

Oh, absolutely.

And the beautiful thing about my show is I'm not the hero.

I get to point the microphone and the camera at Real Heroes.

I am unapologetic about my love for America, and I think it's important to talk about these things and emphasize them as we come up on nine over 11.

And I think the three values that define America more than any other are faith, family, and our freedom.

And I recognized after watching a lot of media, not wonderful shows like yours, but some other ones out there that don't always celebrate those things.

They're actually the antithesis of promoting what's against faith, family, and freedom.

And I want my kids to be raised in a country where those things are celebrated on the Hollywood screen, on the TV.

So I provided a platform to bring out people with very large voices who are unapologetic about those things and communicate the ways they live those things in their life to the rest of us.

And Sharon, you you all at the Lions World Vision Institute are really not a secret because everyone in the world knows about the work being done and the lives that are transformed as a result of what happens.

But maybe here in the Tampa Bay area, we don't really realize that.

Can you describe to our viewers the nature of the.

Work, the time that we are one of the best kept secrets in Tampa Bay?

So Tampa Bay only in Tampa Bay, right?

Lions World Vision Institute, our core program is we are an eye bank.

So we are actually the world's largest eye bank.

Um, we give the gift of sight to over 20,000 people a year through corneal transplants, both here in the United States and then 70 countries worldwide.

So we're talking about organ donation.

And you want to talk about real heroes, the people who their last act in this life is to give a gift to someone else that they don't even know is truly beautiful.

And then I have the privilege of running our foundation, which is the charitable and community outreach arm, and we are focused here in Tampa Bay on pediatric vision health.

And so we provide free eye screenings, free eye exams and free free glasses.

Same day that the kids get to pick out in title one schools in five counties.

And most people don't know that in in Hillsborough County, only about 23% of our kids read at a third grade level.

And a lot of that can be solved just simply by a pair of glasses.

But we're talking about families who are constantly in crisis, right?

And these title one schools.

So if they get a note home that says, you know, your child has an eye issue or something, they don't know what to do.

It's it's one more overwhelming thing.

And so we go out to the schools with our mobile units, and then we're actually building a vision health center for the uninsured and underinsured in Ybor will be breaking ground in November.

Congratulations.

Many people will be surprised to hear you talk about the aspect of the tissues that are saved and distributed.

So is the staff talking, having those difficult conversations with the hospital staff with a funeral home.

So they're actually having the conversations with the family.

Um, we have great relationships with the funeral homes, with the Emmys, with all of those.

Um, but even though you know, the the laws vary from state to state, like in the state of Florida, if you are an organ donor on your driver's license, we don't need the family's permission to recover the tissues, but we still do, um, we get permission from everyone.

And the reason for that is twofold.

One, we need to know a little bit everything we can about their medical history.

It it helps the process speed it up a little bit.

But also we provide that aftercare and those services for someone who is in grief.

And so we follow them for a year.

We make them part of that community.

Um, we give them the opportunity to write to their recipients, um, and their donor families and vice versa.

And I've had the privilege, you know, the pleasure of seeing a donor family meet their recipient family, and it's truly life changing.

One of the things that we felt so strongly about doing for this show that airs before nine over 11 was to really bring home the point that you don't have to be super famous or super strong or, you know, in a in a high paying job to be a superhero, to be an amazing hero to someone that in your life you can pick your moments and be that, um, you know, you in the work that you all have done.

Gates.

You as well.

What is the thing that's missing that we.

Why don't we step up more?

Why don't we do more?

Well, first of all, I want to applaud both of these women here because the word that you all continue to say is family.

And I've made it very clear that faith, family and freedom are what this country is all about.

You help families literally see one another, help read to one another.

That's communication.

You see families on their worst day, and you take that worst day away from them, and you help build better lives for them.

So I applaud both of you all in that work.

It's storytelling.

That's why I chose my route, because I think people can relate to stories.

They can take a story and somehow see how that story affects their own lives or how they relate to that story.

So when I bring people on my show.

Look, we're never going to be the show.

We cover some political issues.

We're never going to be the show that breaks the news.

We're going to be the show that breaks the news down to how you have these conversations at the kitchen table.

So I have Hall of Fame athletes.

I have rock stars that go on tour, and they're not talking about singing on stage.

They're talking about coming back to the tour bus and having to change a diaper, having to have that conversation with their wife that would normally be had in the living room.

But it's on a tour bus, so I try to make, um, famous people relatable.

The show is called We the People because we are all the people and we're a lot like one another, but we need those stories to connect us to each other.

Clara, how can we as a community support the work of the crisis center?

Support what you all are doing with trans care?

Well, thank you for that question.

I think it goes back to what we were all kind of saying is that our staff certainly don't see themselves as heroes.

They see themselves as doing jobs day in and day out.

And so I would say it's the simple things, right?

So that when you see a trans care ambulance or you see one of our staff at a Wawa, just say thank you.

I mean, these individuals, they they don't get the thank you.

You know, they're moving so fast and they never get a chance to really follow up.

I love sharing what you said about being able to connect with the families.

That's the piece that's missing for us, right?

We never know what happens to that patient once we transport them to the hospital.

So anytime anybody sees one of these first responders, just say thank you, whether you've come into contact with them or not.

That's that makes somebody's day.

And I hear that from our staff on the occasions that we do get those letters or those pats on the back, it just makes people's day, truly.

You talked about the so many of them being young.

They are very.

Young.

But there are also I've met some of your staff members who are former military, who they go into the civilian life.

Absolutely.

And and how many do you have in that regard?

You know, and I think that is the beautiful thing when we talk about our our military, our veterans.

They have always seen themselves as helpers.

There's a reason why they went into service and they want to continue to provide that service.

So we have many of them that had been maybe medics in their during their tours, and they want to come back and do that work.

They don't necessarily want to become firefighters, but they really want to be able to give back to the community.

And I think that that is it's just a testament, really, truly.

I do want to say one thing, though, that for many of those individuals, they've also experienced some of the worst things that anybody has ever experienced.

And so being able to again, just say thank you provides that level of support that they that in the in a moment they may not feel like they have.

And so um, while we have a first responder hopeline, while we have a lot of those services and supports, again, it's really is just that, thank you.

That can really just make a difference in a helper's life.

Yeah.

Sharon, tell us about how we as a community can be more supportive of the work that's, going on at the Institute.

Well, I think it was exactly what you were talking about.

That thank you, is not just the gratitude that goes with it.

It is the fact that you're seeing, you know, and that's really what it's all about.

When you were talking about the story telling and the connection and, and, you know, I mean, so number one, the biggest way you can help us is become an organ donor.

I mean, you know, give that gift to someone else is amazing.

And, you know, having us on these shows so that we're not the best kept secret here.

And then one of the things that we are also are all about community collaboration, because we can't do everything by ourselves.

And so whether it's a social service, whether it is a for profit, whether it is another nonprofit, um, we just want to be able to say, how can we help you?

You know, educate your staff, have them involved and volunteer opportunities, have them come out and even tour our we're in a historic building that is absolutely gorgeous.

And it's, you know, it's that it's that knowledge.

I worked at the Holocaust Museum, I think, you know, for a while and worked with many survivors.

And I remember one in particular that was talking about the best way to change the world is education, education, education.

Well, thank you for what you all do.

You really are Tampa Bay treasure.

Such a point of pride for our community.

This global institute.

And it's right here in Ybor City.

I don't want to end the segment without asking the question of, you know, where were you on nine over 11?

I remember exactly where I was.

I was sitting in the news set, getting ready to do the next cut in for weather and local in the morning show when that first plane hit the World Trade Center.

And I just felt like, like the breath just knocked right out of me and I.

And right there I thought, where is my daughter?

I had only a three year old.

Where is my husband?

Where's my family?

It was really life changing.

Um, where were you on nine over 11?

Well, nothing that extreme.

I was actually in the dentist office, and my husband was.

Was like the appointment after me, so we were at least together.

Um, but it was one of those things where it's like, this can't be happening.

This can't really be.

It was just it.

Yeah.

It was beyond comprehension.

Um, and then, you know, I remember just seeing things right after that.

And I had the opportunity to go to New York a month later.

And just the absolute.

I just remember the smell, just that that smell that I can still smell to this day was just very overpowering.

Gates.

So I was a sophomore in high school.

I remember where I was standing and who I was talking to and all that, but I'd rather spend my my short amount of time here piggybacking off of a couple of things you all said about thanking people.

People need to feel recognized.

They need to know they're recognized because the work isn't always seen.

However, take that.

Thank you and go beyond that.

Don't just say thank you.

Live like you mean it.

Honor our military servicemen and women when they're not in front of you, when they're deployed, check on his or check on his wife.

You know, the spouse, drive one of their kids to football practice, whatever it may be.

We've got to honor these individuals, not just when we're face to face with them, but when we're living our everyday lives because they are the reason we can live the lives we have.

Thank you, Sharon, where were you on 911?

So I was in a high rise building in Cleveland, Ohio.

I work for the Chamber of Commerce at that time.

And in typical Sharon fashion, I was running around like a chicken with my head cut off.

And I had come in early, went into the conference room, saw it on the news in our, um, in our lobby, and then got done with my meeting, came back and went to my desk, and I had like five missed phone calls from my husband.

And who work for the Department of Defense at the time.

And he said, this is very serious.

You need to go pick up the children right now and I will meet you at home.

Wow.

And so I did.

I mean, at that point, and I was lucky because downtown was gridlock for hours after that.

I was one of the first people out of there.

I got our kids.

I went home and we just took it from there.

And like you, my daughter and I, the same daughter I went to pick up at school, we just did a trip to New York and went to the museum and so moving because for me, what drives it is there's a story and a person behind every single one of those people that was lost, yes.

And, you know, I live each day to read one of their stories, learn about it and honor their memory.

And that's all the time that we have for now.

I could talk to you both to the three of you forever.

Thank you so much for being here.

Thank you, this is lovely.

That's all the time that we have for now.

Thanks again to our panelists, Mayor Ken Welch, Clara Reynolds, Sharon Boyce, and Gates Garcia.

This conversation continues on Facebook, so be sure to follow us there.

You can watch all shows on YouTube and our website, and remember to send us your story ideas.

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Send your ideas to ftw@wedu.org.

on behalf of the entire team here at WEDU.

Thank you so much for watching.

[music] Florida This Week is a production of WEDU, who is solely responsible for its content.