ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — With hurricane season beginning this weekend, Pinellas County in partnership with the City of St. Petersburg hosted a free Hurricane Preparedness Expo.

The event was a great opportunity for residents to learn from experts about how to prepare themselves, their families and their homes for hurricanes.

Before residents made their way inside, they had a chance to look over more than 10 emergency service vehicles that Pinellas County residents rely on during hurricane season.

Also, outside – a mobile veterinary clinic which provided free rabies shots, county licensing and microchipping.

But the overall reason residents were here at the Willis S. John’s Recreation Center was located inside.

As residents entered the building, they were handed a bag and a piece of paper with more than 20 icons, each representing an agency or organizations that offers hurricane related services. When residents stopped by their respective stations, they were given an item or two. By the time they made their way around the entire room, their ‘hurricane kits’ were completed.

Every agency from the National Weather Service and the Red Cross to the Agency on Aging was represented. Even Spectrum Bay News 9 meteorologist Diane Kackmarik was in attendance. She spoke to a room full of viewers about her forecast for the upcoming season.

Also on site was the Pinellas County Department of Emergency Management. Offering her expertise – Mary Burrell.

“Your flood zone is where you get flooded from rain. So, you may be in a non-evacuation zone, but you can still get flooded from a lot of rain, or you might have a pond in your backyard or a creek,” she said.

Burrell said last hurricane season showed that knowing your flood zone is just as important as knowing your evacuations zone. It was information like this that longtime Pinellas County resident, Paula Carver was grateful for.

“Every year there’s more updated information that I need to be aware of and get prepared, so I’m not worried that I don’t know what to do when something happens, and I live by myself,” Carver said.

More importantly, Carver says, the information that she takes with her is not just for her.

“I can tell my neighbors that don’t get around because I have a lot of elderly neighbors that can count on some information from me,” she said.

All in all, the most important information gained was that knowing more leads to preparing more, and ultimately, helping more.