The next time a storm the size of Helene or Milton hits, Hillsborough County and St. Petersburg will be better prepared — with monster trucks that can save people from rising waters.
A.J. Silva of Hillsborough County Fire Rescue climbs into the cab of one of the massive utility terrain vehicles, called the Sherp, after the company that makes them.
The department's four Ukrainian-designed Sherp UTVs were first rolled out 12 hours before Hurricane Milton hit. And they got some use.
They have 6-foot-high tires and can float. Silva estimates they rescued about 1,500 people and 100 pets.
“Like I can tell you from my experience, we pull up in the Alafia [River] when it was flooded, and you know people see this big doomsday-looking buggy pull up to their house,” he said during a recent demonstration, “and then they see a bunch of firemen jump out and they're like, 'Oh, somebody's here to help us.' "
Fire Capt. James Whitmore says the reaction – particularly pulling up to people with limited mobility – was "fantastic."
“You see the relief in everybody's face when you pull up and they see somebody's here to get us,” Whitmore said. “Because at that point in time during the middle of the storm – and even after when the water was still coming up – I think a lot of people were at a lack of hope.”
He says that quickly turned into relief when they realized someone was there to take them to safety.
ALSO READ: What are Tampa Bay area governments doing to prevent inland flooding after Hurricane Milton?
Ralph Mascaro IV said Hillsborough County Fire Rescue and the Hillsborough sheriff's office have four Sherps each, a total of eight. Each one costs a minimum of about $180,000.
"There's a lot of high-water vehicles out there," he said. "They're really aggressive on the neighborhoods. This can go anywhere an airboat can go, but I'm not blowing out windows. I'm not doing any of those things. So, it's a gentle footprint on the area."
St. Petersburg Fire Rescue is expanding its fleet of high-water rescue vehicles from one to four. It is buying three remanufactured military vehicles for $280,500. Those can typically navigate 30 to 42 inches of water.
Information from St. Pete Catalyst was used in this report.
