Living in the Keys, I can relate. <img src="/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

I grew up in Pinellas County, and am a little biased when I say that you are propbably living with one of the nation's premier emergency services and emergency management system. Twenty-five years ago they decided they should do some things like consolidated dispatching, common radio system (except for Clearwater), using the Incident Command System (a buzzword today, but in use for the last 25 years there), automatic mutual aid, and a county "grid" system that divides the county into 1.5 x 1 mile rectangles. Used for EVERYTHING dealing with the county. All stuff transparent to most citizens, but is enourmous in its benefits to command and control. (The whole idea of "interoperability"). There are still turf battles, but when you're dealing with 25 independent municipalities in an area the size of Pinellas County, you will have problems. You don't say how long you've lived there, but if you're new, make sure you understand your evacuation zone, evacuation roots, and if the shelter you would plan to go will be closed in evacuation level "D" and "E".

If you have an questions, don't forget to search the archives here too. Sometimes the questions have been answered a few times.