ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — In south St. Petersburg, one neighborhood feels neglected in the recovery from Helene. They tell 10 Tampa Bay the adjusters they talked to didn't know how bad the flooding got there. They're also asking for protection.
Inside a tub of rice are memories for Robert Vinson, Pastor of Bethel Metropolitan Baptist Church.
“You can't replace stuff like this,” he says holding up camcorder tapes of the important moments of his children’s lives. “My son's first basketball game; this is what I’ve been doing as a father.”
He hopes the tapes and his family photos will eventually dry out. What he wants right now is help to keep strangers from picking through his things, taking what he was drying out, not throwing out.
“I love our officers, what they do,” he says. “I've not seen a police officer over here to monitor someone in the morning, the afternoon, or the evening time.”
Reche Williams feels the same and says they should have dedicated patrols from police like other flooded places.
“Don't just do one part of the county instead of doing everybody the same,” he says. “Treat everybody the same because we all pay taxes. We all got y'all out working for us.”
As Helene moved through, Williams says his son had to rescue his mother- and brother-in-law in an inflatable raft when storm surge invaded the home, water up to their necks.
“I was on the phone with them and trying to keep them calm,” he remembers. “Just praying for the best.”
He's watched as people took all the metal they can carry and sell for scrap. He knows if it's on the curb it's legal to take but they've roamed onto the sidewalks and yards, taking his dignity too.
“Give the homeowner a chance, you know,” he pleads to those rummaging through his family’s things. “But they're not doing that. They don't care.”
10 Tampa Bay did talk with St. Pete police Tuesday night and shared the concerns from this neighborhood. We were told they'd let the district major know and see about putting this area on that dedicated patrol list.