Hurricane Re-Entry Tags

To expedite the re-entry process to St. Pete Beach after an evacuation, we have recommend all residents and businesses to purchase re-entry tags before a storm strikes. Click here to download the form; simply fill it out and turn it in to the Police Station or Fire Station 23. Remember, the resident must appear in person with 1 proof of residency (drivers license, voter id, etc) to pick up the permit. Non-residents cannot pick up the permits for other people.

Why have re-entry Tags?
The City of St. Pete Beach has taken pride in the fact that we have developed one of the most progressive and user friendly disaster plans to be used as direction for the evacuation of our city. However, there has always been on part of our plan which has been a concern; the re-entry process after a mass evacuation. Part of this concern is the necessity of checking identification of all who return to the beach; this process is very slow and often can cause those waiting in line to become impatient.

In order to facilitate the re-entry process to St. Pete Beach after a major storm, we have created a program using hanging tags. Each tag is color coded according to voting district or commerical use.

What do the colors represent?
District 1 uses yellow, 2 uses red, 3 uses blue and 4 uses green. The commercial tag is used for non residents that are owners or employees of businesses on the beach. The commercial tag is also used for caretakers of our elderly or invalid citizens. The tags are sold at the Police Station and Fire Station 23. We charge $1.00 per tag to recoup our cost of the tags and are made to be a permanent one-time only purchase. We also keep a database of the tag numbers, and to whom they were sold, with a special list of lost or stolen tags for teh Fire and Police Departments.

The storm has passed, now what?
Be sure to watch local television stations as well as Pinellas County Channel 18 for the latest on re-evacuation. Once re-evacuation is allowed, we will let you know the process via these media outlets as well as the cell phone alert system.

The way the tag works is that when the re-entry is opened, the citizen or business person with a re-entry tag hangs it on their rearview mirror. The Police or National Guardsmen will not have to check their ID and will wave the vehicle through. The more people who have re-entry tags, the quicker the re-entry process. We are hoping that this will make it easier for everyone involved.

Why the need to have different colors?
The color representations act as a security system for the patrols after re-entry. Only vehicles belonging to addresses in a specific area should have the color designated to that area. In other words, vehicles in District 1 should have yellow tags; if it does not, the patrol knows to stop and inquire why that vehicle is in that district. This should help the patrols in preventing looting and vandalism.

Do hotels also get hang tags?
The hotels on the beach buy enough to cover their emergency staff. Usually the manager purchases the tags for his or her hotel and only hands them out when an evacuation is called. The plan is to then have the employees turn them back in to the manager after the emergency is over so that one person has control of the tags.