Beyond the News WFLA Interviews

Pinellas County scheduled a virtual workshop to update its Disaster Mitigation Plan October 17th, not knowing that the county would be coming off two hurricanes in succession that caused serious damage. We speak with the county's Smita Ambadi about how to participate and what information the county needs to update its plans. It's not a forum to submit requests for assistance, but don't be surprised if that comes up.

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Classes are resuming at a Clearwater elementary school where many of the children are left homeless by flooding during Hurricane Milton. We speak with Eisenhower Elementary principal Tijuana Baker.

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Tampa Bay residents have lived through high water, flooding and high winds from two major hurricanes -- Helene and Milton. As stressful as it's been for adults, how are children and teens dealing with the stress, and what are the signs of bigger problems? We speak with Jennifer Katzenstein, PhD, the director of psychology, neuropsychology and social work, and co-director of the Center for Behavioral Health at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg.

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The Tampa Woman's Club is offering "good food and warm words" to South Tampa residents struggling after Hurricane Helene. It's offering spaghetti box dinners to Helene survivors Monday afternoon. We speak with the club's 3rd VP, Gina Roth about their efforts and Helene's impact in Tampa.

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A week after Hurricane Helene, Pinellas beaches are open but cleanup is continuing and most hotels and businesses are closed. How does the tourist agency that markets what it calls "America's Best Beaches" talk to visitors when the beaches are closed? We speak with Visit St Pete - Clearwater President and CEO Brian Lowack.

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A new state law goes into effect today (Oct. 1) banning the homeless from sleeping in public spaces after dark. Agencies that serve the homeless have been rpeapring for the law. We speak with Maggie Rogers, CEO of the Pinellas HOPE and Tampa HOPE shelters.

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Hurricane Helene's storm surge is expected to follow the example of Idalia and other summer and winter storms and do some damage to Gulf beaches in Florida. The U.S. Geological Survey was predicting most beaches on Florida's west coast would be inundated by Helene, but the forecast looks better south of Tampa Bay. We speak with USGS's Kara Doran, who's actually based in St. Petersburg with the USGS Coastal and Marine Science Center. (Photo: NHC/NOAA)

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Newsradio WFLA's Read Shepherd talks with Marci Andino, VP-Elections Infrastructure, Information Sharing and Analysis Center, about the impact of Artificial Intelligence on the 2024 elections.

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The US House task force investigating the two assassination attempts against former President Donald Trump holds its first public hearing Thursday (September 26th). We speak with one of the task force members from the Tampa Bay area, U.S. Representative Laurel Lee.

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With Potential Hurricane Helene aiming for the Gulf with a possible Florida landfall, the Tampa Bay area could again get a brush with a hurricane.  We spoke with Sean Johnson of FPL, which serves Manatee and Sarasota counties, earlier this year on how they've worked to make the system in those counties more hurricane-resistant. (NOTE: This was recorded in June, prior to rain impacts from Debby.)

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