CITRUS PARK, Fla. — Thousands of people across Hillsborough County are still in desperate need of food and water following the devastating effects of Hurricane Milton. The county has opened up food distribution sites where people can pick up supplies for free.
One of those locations is Citrus Park Mall, where hundreds of cars lined up as people waited for supplies.
Employees from across Hillsborough County teamed up with the National Guard to help people secure much needed food, water, ice and tarps.
“Oh man I’m really grateful, these guys are quick, they’re good, and they are friendly,” said Jerry Vance.
“I got a couple of tarps, I got some food, I got some emergency water,” said Sabrina Rayburn.
“Oh, it is a big help, a very big help. And a lot of people need it,” said Virginia Shea.
Many of these people aren’t just picking up supplies for themselves, but also for friends and family who are unable to make it out on their own.
“I will give to a friend. She lives way over in Plant City. I don’t think she has anything over there and they don’t have any power,” said Shea.
Then there’s Wendell Ashley. He was one of the first in line. He’s been looking everywhere for water and ice.
“I never knew that I would be so hungry for water and ice until I just didn’t have water and ice,” said Ashley. “And the hardships, the stress that it creates not having that, but knowing that this is here, I was told at 7 a.m. this morning that this would be here, so I rushed over here.”
They said it really is amazing how sometimes the worst situations bring out the best in people.
“It's just important for the community to help out each other because without this, we would have nothing and that’s very unfortunate,” said Rayburn.
For more information on food distribution sites in the Tampa Bay area, click here.
For a list of Feeding Tampa Bay mobile pantry sites, click here.
With thousands still without power in South Florida, TECO is continuing to work day and night on getting the lights back on. "We know how frustrating it is, how inconvenient it is not to have power, and so the team is really committed to the cause," says CEO Archie Collins.
