Thursday, March 26, 2026
Wednesday, October 09, 2024
Project Phoenix
IONTB
May 7, 2017The Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council, along with their partners from government, business, and social services communities, is developing a plan to identify and address the multitude of issues that would arise should a catastrophic event occur in the Tampa Bay area. For this plan, the Tampa Bay area is defined as the following counties:
- Dr. Neil Frank - Former Director, National Hurricane Center
- Steve Jerve - Chief Meteorologist, WFLA-TV
- Dr. Steve Lyons - Tropical Weather Expert, The Weather Channel
- Daniel Noah - Warning Coordination Meteorologist, National Weather Service - Ruskin (Tampa Bay Area)
- Tammie Souza - Chief Meteorologist, WTSP-TV
- Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
- Florida Division of Emergency Management
- Hillsborough County Hazard Mitigation Division
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
- National Geographic Channel
- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
- Pinellas County Communications
- Pinellas PCC-TV
- Pinellas County Emergency Management
- Sarasota County Emergency Management
- United States Coast Guard
- The Weather Channel
- WFLA-TV, Tampa
- WTSP-TV, Tampa
- Brad Courtney - Video Production Manager Creative input provided by the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council Betti Johnson - Principal Planner and Project Lead
- Brady Smith - Senior Planner
Project Phoenix 2.0 Simulation & Recovery
Tuesday, October 08, 2024
Sunday, December 27, 2015
Sunday Conversation: Region population spike outpaces Fla. growth
The Tampa Bay region has outpaced the average growth rate in Florida, helping send the state past 20.2 million residents. WTSP
10 News Staff,
(Photo: Jim Damanske, Tampa Bay Times)
It's a tale of a battle between both sides of the bay. Population growth in the area has surpassed the state average. But which side of the bridges are people moving to?
It is part of a larger influx of people moving to the Sunshine State. The state has added 365,000 residents between 2014 and 2015, for a total of 20.2 million residents, according to U.S. Census Bureau statistics
Florida was second in overall population growth behind Texas. It is the third most populous state behind the California and the Lone Star State.
In today's Sunday Conversation with the Tampa Bay Times, 10Investigates' Noah Pransky sits down with Times' reporter Charlie Frago about the Tampa Bay region's spike in population growth.
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
Seffner residents evacuated amid fear of new sinkhole
Posted: Mar 26, 2013 10:53 PM EDTUpdated: Mar 26, 2013 10:56 PM EDT
By: Deborah Bowden, FOX 13 News - bio
SEFFNER (FOX 13) -
Some Seffner residents fear there may be a sinkhole under their duplex on Peach Avenue. If confirmed, it would be the fourth sinkhole in the Seffner area in the past month -- including the one that swallowed Jeffrey Bush as he slept inside his home.
Jessica Alfaro knew right away something was wrong. She said the living room in her family's apartment is sloping, creaking and rubbery.
"If you were to touch it, it's going up and down and comes back up," she said.
Her wheelchair-bound father lives in the home with her, along with her brother, sister and newborn niece.
"She's like, 'does it sound like it's good?' I was like, no it doesn't. Once we sat down, so much noise started happening. I thought, this is crazy, I'm calling 911. They said it's time to get out," Alfaro said.
Fire crews checked it out and took every precaution before going inside. They put a ladder across the floor, and used rope to tether themselves to a telephone pole outside.
"The time is actually buckled up quite a bit," said Jessica Damico from Hillsborough County Fire Rescue. "It's not like a normal tile crack you would see. It's buckled up a few inches above the slab."
Outside, large cracks can be seen in the wall. Fire crews said they aren't sure what's causing it.
"It sounded hollow to them, but they're not sure if the tiles are just loose. It's beneath the tiles and the floor. Or if there's actually some holes beneath the slab," Damico said.
For Keith Simpson, who lives next door, it's a total shock. He came home to the scene after a 10-hour day at work.
"I just got to be calm about it and just pray. Hope everything will be alright," he said.
The duplex is more than two miles away from the sinkhole that killed Jeff Bush on March 1st. His brother jumped in the hole, but couldn't save him.
Engineers and geologists said efforts to try to recover his body were too dangerous. The sinkhole became his final resting place, in a story that drew attention from across the nation and worldwide.
An expert will come out to the home Wednesday morning to figure out if they're dealing with a sinkhole, or just some severe settling.
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Friday, August 31, 2012
Clint Eastwood RNC speech
By POLITICO STAFF | 8/30/12 11:10 PM EDT
All right. I started, you finish it. Go ahead.
AUDIENCE: Make my day!
EASTWOOD: Thank you. Thank you very much.
Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0812/80505.html#ixzz258hsndg0
Saturday, August 25, 2012
Fla. prepares for Isaac on eve of GOP convention
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — The site of the National Republican Convention showed no signs of a coming deluge Saturday, even as the approaching Tropical Storm Isaac sent officials across the state into full-scale preparation mode.
Streets were already shut down around the Tampa Bay Times Forum, where former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney will accept his party's presidential nomination Thursday night. Law enforcement milled about downtown, and some protests already were under way. One group protesting homelessness and the housing crisis "took over" a foreclosed home by cleaning the yard and planned to help a homeless couple move in.
Convention officials announced Saturday evening that they planned to convene the convention briefly on Monday, then immediately recess until Tuesday afternoon, when the storm is expected to have passed. Florida Gov. Rick Scott, a Republican, declared a state of emergency and canceled his plans to attend convention events on Sunday and Monday.
A hurricane warning had been issued for the Florida Keys, and officials warned tourists to leave. Forecast models show Isaac likely won't hit Tampa head-on, but it could lash the city with rain and strong winds just as the convention ramps up.
"I told some of my Democratic friends, 'We are the storm, baby, we are the thunder,'" said Steve Linder, whose business is planning all events for the Michigan delegation. Linder added, smiling, "and it ain't gonna stop until November."
Dianne Joachim of New Richmond, Wis., was in town for her first convention and vowed not to let Isaac ruin it.
"I just figure God's got this," she said as she arrived at her downtown hotel.
Scott said during a media briefing that delegates were being told how to stay safe during a storm, and officials were ready for storm surge, bridge closures and other problems that could arise during the convention. He also said he was in close communication with local, state and federal agencies, as well as convention officials.
"We are a hospitality state. We know how to take care of people and we want to ensure their safety," the governor said.
Isaac was blamed for at least three deaths after dousing flood-prone Haiti and was expected to scrape eastern Cuba on Saturday. It was forecast to hit the Keys late Sunday or early Monday, and it then could bring stormy conditions to Florida's west coast before moving to the Panhandle.
Isaac was expected to pass over the Keys as a hurricane late Sunday or early Monday. A steady stream of cars moved north along the Overseas Highway on Saturday, but officials said there were no major problems as some evacuated. At spots of higher ground along the highway, the only road connecting the Keys, dozens of people parked their cars to escape flooding.
At The Turtle Hospital in Marathon, workers were moving recovering turtles from outdoor tanks inside, and hospital founder Richie Moretti said warnings were being taken seriously. He noted Hurricane Wilma in 2005 was initially expected to hit as a Category 1 storm, too.
"It took out the motel, the hospital, the docks, and all the boats. So, I don't take anything for granted. If there's a storm coming, I don't care what number they give it. We're going to batten down and be ready," he said.
Volunteers carried in supplies at shelters throughout the Keys. On Duval Street, the famed tourist strip in Key West, many shops were boarded up. Bands of light rain moved through and passersby crowded under umbrellas and wore ponchos and slickers.
"The weather sucks, but on Tuesday it'll be nice," said an optimistic Kelly Calhoun, a 30-year-old speech therapist at the start of a weeklong vacation to Key West with family. "We got all the essentials: booze and food."
Yet the storm was days away from the Florida Panhandle. It was sunny and breezy on the beach Saturday in Pensacola, with people out strolling and playing in the sand. Condo associations told people to move furniture inside, but full-scale preparations hadn't yet begun. Waves weren't yet big enough for surfers.
When the storm hits, strong winds will be "enough to knock you over" and produce severe thunderstorms, National Hurricane Center spokesman Dennis Feltgen said.
Storm surge and tornadoes also are possible when Isaac hits, and winds could topple power lines and lead to lengthy power outages, Feltgen said. The Panhandle already has had a wet summer, so potential flooding was especially possible there.
Schools, airports, parks and beaches across South Florida closed ahead of the storm. In the Florida Keys, officials said they would open storm shelters and urged vacationers to leave. State officials warned Isaac was a massive storm — even though the eye may not pass over Tampa, tropical storm-force winds extended 230 miles from the center.
Officials were handing out sandbags to residents in the Tampa area, which often floods when heavy rainstorms hit. Sandbags also were being handed out in Homestead, 20 years after Hurricane Andrew devastated the community there. Otherwise, however, convention preparations were moving ahead as usual.
Police said even heavy rain could reduce the protesters' ranks, and could also bring relief from another worry: extreme heat.
Associated Press Writers Suzette Laboy in Miami, Tony Winton in Marathon, Matt Sedensky in Key West and Gary Fineout in Tallahassee contributed to this report.
Source
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
Could Hurricane Issac Ruin the Republican Convention?
It seems that history may in fact repeat itself in 2012. For the second consecutive GOP Convention in a row, there may be a major hurricane hitting the US mainland. Back in 2008 the GOP decided to tone down its festivities in late August in order to be respectful to those Americans dealing with destruction…
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Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Report: GOP Convention Surveillance Includes 'Behavior Recognition' Software
August 21, 2012
A graphic explaining BRS Labs' behavior recognition software for video surveillance. (From BRS Labs' Web site)
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Tampa police thwart teen's Columbine-style plot
Jared Cano, 17, is led out of a courtroom in Tampa after being charged with possession of bomb-making materials. Photograph: Diez, Cherie/AP
Reuters
The Guardian, Wed 17 Aug 2011 21.15 BST
Florida police say they have thwarted a plot by a 17-year-old to attack his former school, after discovering bomb-making material at his home. "We were probably able to thwart a potentially catastrophic event the likes of which the city of Tampa has not seen and hopefully never will," Tampa police chief Jane Castor told a news conference.
Tampa police said Jared Cano's target was the Freedom high school in Hillsborough county. The local police chief, Jane Castor, said Cano, who had been expelled from the school, had hoped "to cause more casualties than were suffered at Columbine".
In April 1999, two students at the Columbine high school in Colorado killed 12 students and one teacher in one of the deadliest school massacres in US history.
Castor said Tampa police, acting on a tip from an informant, learned that Cano had been planning an attack for the first day of term next week.
Source
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Monday, June 06, 2011
Second victim dies after home invasion
Second victim dies after home invasion
Updated: Monday, 06 Jun 2011, 5:21 PM EDT
Published : Monday, 06 Jun 2011, 2:45 PM EDT
TAMPA - A second teenager has died following a Sunday morning home invasion, and now police have released the name of a 'person of interest' in the crime.
Kiara Brito, 16, was shot and killed at her West Van Buren Drive home when at least two suspects opened fire. Now, her 13-year-old brother Jeremi has been pronounced dead after spending a day on life support.
The teens were the only ones at home at the time of the shooting. Authorities say their mother, Judy, also lived at the home but they aren’t saying where she was when the home invasion occurred.
Authorities say this was not a random act but stopped short of saying whom the suspects may have been targeting.
Monday afternoon, Tampa police identified Charles Stephan Waits, 19, as a person of interest in the killings. He is also wanted on cocaine charges.
"Detectives believe that he has information directly related to the homicides," police spokeswoman Laura McElroy explained in a written statement.
Crime Stoppers is offering a $1,000 reward for information that leads to an arrest. You can call 1-800-873-8477 if you have any information.
Source
Related:
Two teens dead in home invasion
Published on Jun 6, 2011 by ABCActionNews
Detectives say a weekend home invasion that left 16-year-old Kiara Brito dead was not a random act. Her 13-year-old brother Jeremi passed away Monday after being taken off life support.
Friday, April 02, 2010
University Community Health, Adventist Health explore merger
University Community Health, Adventist Health explore merger
The merger potentially could be completed this summer, pending completion of due diligence and any regulatory review, said Norm Stein, president and chief executive officer of UCH.
The merger would give Adventist, based in Winter Park and the largest not-for-profit Protestant health care provider in the United States, a big boost in market share in the Tampa Bay area.
University Community Health, which includes University Community Hospital, University Community Hospital-Carrollwood, Pepin Heart Hospital and Helen Ellis Memorial Hospital, accounts for about 9 percent of inpatient discharges and 9 percent of total acute-care beds in the Bay area, according to a February market review by HealthLeaders-InterStudy.
Adventist supports 37 hospitals, but only one of them — Florida Hospital Zephyrhills — is in the Bay area.
A merger would give Adventist an opportunity to grow on the partnerships and relationships UCH has in place, said Christine Stewart, communications manager for Adventist.
The two systems already are working together on a joint venture to build Wesley Chapel Medical Center, a health care complex in Pasco County. That joint venture relationship, formed in 2007, allowed the boards of UCH and Adventist to work together and get to know each other, Stein said.
The economic downturn has prompted some consolidation in the health care industry, but succession planning, more than dollars and cents, played a role in the potential Adventist-UCH merger, Stein said.
“At one point last year, I announced my retirement,” he said. Discussions with Adventist about a merger emerged as part of the planning process the UCH board undertook. “This was driven not out of financial need but out of the value of being able to work together more efficiently.”
Stein, who will turn 65 in April, plans to step down once the deal is completed. A new market manager would be named, but that person has not yet been identified. Adventist’s goal would be to not disrupt patient care and at this point does not intend to have any layoffs of staff reductions, although details remain to be worked out, Stewart said UCH reported $7.8 million in operating income on revenue of $502.5 million for the fiscal year ended Sept. 30, 2009, a dramatic turnaround from the $7.3 million operating loss in the year-earlier period. Adventist had revenue of $5.5 billion and total earnings after expenses of $233.5 million for the year ended Dec. 31, 2008, the most recent available.
Monday, October 05, 2009
Police Arrest Suspects After University of South Florida Lockdown
Monday, October 05, 2009
Two men are in custody after several warnings were sent to students of a possible gunman on the University of South Florida's Tampa campus.
A police spokesman told the Tampa Tribune a man stood up on a campus bus and said he was the one authorities were looking for. He told them he had a bomb, but later said it was just a hoax, spokeswoman Laura McElroy told the newspaper.
The first suspect, described as an African American male in a green and yellow striped shirt, was seen as he entered a police car around 3:30 p.m. Monday afternoon.
Shortly after students received a text message saying: "White male subject seen in the Cooper Hall area in black tank top, cowboy hat carrying black puppy and a large hunting knife-officers in route."
Cooper Hall is the campus' main lecture hall.
It was not immediately clear which suspect was the one on the bus.
Police called in the Tampa Police bomb team to investigate the first suspect's belongings.
Students had been told to stay indoors and away from campus Monday afternoon, according to the university's Web site.
A message posted by the university said that officers were on scene and began searching the area just before 2 p.m.
Authorities said an off-campus call was transferred to USF police from the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office. The caller reported that a man with a gun was in front of the university's library.
The campus transit system was shut down while police searched for the suspect.
Student Ella Michel, who spoke to FOX News from her dormitory, said she was informed that the school was on lockdown via a text message from the school's administrators.
USF, the ninth largest university in the United States, has more than 46,000 students.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Source: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,560462,00.html
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