Sheriff Tommy Ford Leads Hurricane Relief Efforts

BAY COUNTY, Fla. ( WMBB ) – For three years, Bay County Sheriff Tommy Ford has been involved in every Hurricane to hit Florida.

Tommy Ford is the chair of the Florida Task Force. As the chair, he is responsible for coordinating Hurricane Recovery Resources from all 67 Sheriff’s Offices.

This allows him to give back to vulnerable areas that helped in 2018.

On Friday morning, Ford and 20 of his deputies left Bay County, heading east.

“We are relocating to the Wakulla County area, kind of closer to where the storm came in with that devastating surge. We’ve got hundreds of sheriff’s deputies from across the state converging on the area that’s been the most affected,” Sheriff Tommy Ford said.

Every team member volunteered for this deployment. Many of them remember what life was like after Hurricane Michael hit here in October 2018.

“It’s a passion of ours to give help because we remember the feeling of feeling so helpless after Hurricane Michael and then having those sheriff’s deputies and state law enforcement officers roll in. I think we had five to 600 here at one point. And I know how it makes the citizens feel safe to have that vertical increased presence in such a vulnerable time. So we were passionate about that. And we certainly have learned a lot during Hurricane Michael and subsequent years. I think we can pass on to those communities that may not have been affected,” Ford said.

They say they’re happy to take on the law enforcement responsibilities for these communities. It allows those local officers to take care of their families and deal with the damages to their own homes.

“The impression on him that it made to have the National Guard come in, to have other sheriff’s office come in so that our guys could go take care of their families, that they would support us and enhance our numbers and help us to deal with what had happened to us. That has just made an indelible impression. And he wants to do everything he can to return that favor,” BCSO Public Information Officer Ruth Corley said.

This team will remain in the devastated areas for up to two weeks.

Another Bay County Sheriff’s Office team is on standby and will deploy if needed.

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