Hillsborough County Fire Rescue is beefing up its storm playbook, adding three airboats to its Special Operations fleet and leaning hard on its amphibious SHERP vehicles to reach residents trapped by floodwaters this hurricane season. The idea is simple, if not exactly low key: when neighborhood streets turn into canals and regular fire engines or ambulances are stuck at the edge of the water, these machines keep going. County emergency staff recently rolled them out at a disaster-preparedness expo and say the upgraded fleet will reshape how and where they stage rescues.
According to Spectrum Bay News 9, Hillsborough County received a $263,153 state grant to buy three Diamondback airboats and trailers for the Special Operations unit. Public Safety Information Chief Rob Herrin told the station the boats are “quick,” “efficient,” and “maneuverable,” and said crews will position them near inland flood-prone areas so they can launch fast when storms roll in. The on-the-ground expo and a short video showing the airboats and SHERPs in action were documented by the Osprey Observer.
How SHERPs and airboats complement each other
Hillsborough County describes its SHERP amphibious vehicles as big-wheeled, all-terrain workhorses that can float, crawl over debris, and push through deep floodwaters, capabilities that let crews reach cut-off homes that would otherwise need to wait for the water to drop. As Hillsborough County notes, the marine unit now layers fireboats, jet skis, and inflatable boats with SHERPs and airboats for a tiered response, matching the machine to the mess in front of them. Local reporting shows those SHERP vehicles have already been tested in earlier storms and, according to WUSF, they were credited with rescuing roughly 1,500 people and 100 pets in previous flooding events.
Where they'll be staged and who will run them
County officials say a team of specially trained first responders has been tapped to operate the airboats and SHERPs, and that the vehicles will be staged in spots that have a history of going underwater, including stretches of the Alafia River near Riverview. Herrin told Spectrum Bay News 9 the airboats are easy to deploy and can slip into tighter, shallower areas where larger rescue craft simply cannot go. The goal, officials say, is to cut the time stranded residents spend waiting for help and to give crews more flexible tools when water levels rise fast.
What residents should know
Hillsborough County is reminding residents that high-tech gear only goes so far if people do not prepare. Officials urge everyone to sign up for HCFL Alert, learn their evacuation zone, and visit HCFL.gov/StaySafe for information on shelters, evacuation routes, and recovery resources. The county’s Disaster and Recovery Community Expo was designed to give families a close-up look at the equipment first responders use and to walk them through basic preparedness. If a storm is on the way, officials say residents should follow evacuation orders promptly and cooperate with emergency crews who are positioning the heavy gear ahead of the worst of the weather.
