PASCO COUNTY — With the damage from one storm still fresh and another hurricane on the way, Margie Martino and Kimberley Gantz aren’t waiting for government agencies to help people in Pasco County.
“We are paying attention to the Facebook groups and people who are meeting people, posting their addresses, trying to send people there. We are gathering all of that information,” said Martino.
Kimberley has a mobile office set up in the back of her car with a list of all the places in need.
“We have Leisure Beach, Signal Cove, Hudson Beach, Sundance Lake RV Resort,” she read from the list.
She says she is frustrated because she is not seeing help go to communities that were hit the hardest by Helene.
“I have pages and pages of these neighborhoods that no one has touched yet,” said Gantz.
Kimberly says she knows how to get things done and get people moving.
That’s why she started Pasco Recovery & Aid.
“I’m going door to door helping people do their FEMA applications with an IPAD because they don’t own devices. They don’t own laptops. And if they did they lost it in the storm,” said Gantz.
“This man,” Martino said pointing at an elderly man in a chair, “every time I drive by he’s outside his house sweating. They can’t hang out inside their house. They can’t get respite from the heat. There’s no power on this block.”
Margie says it doesn’t take much to make a difference.
“If you have hands and feet that work you can sweep. If you can type you can come out and help. If you have five dollars get a case of water,” said Martino.
'Cruise lights' on Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office patrol cars raise questions, confusion among drivers
Every driver knows that when you see red and blue flashing lights on a patrol car, you slow down, pull over, or get out of the way.
But in Hillsborough County, drivers will also now see deputies with their lights on, but not flashing. They're called "cruise lights," and the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office (HCSO) recently implemented their use on all patrol vehicles.
