The questions vendors and volunteers heard often Saturday at the annual Hurricane Expo at the Savannah Center were about how often residents of central Florida can expect major storms or hurricanes — and how to take care of pets under severe weather conditions.
Several long-term area residents recalled several back-to-back hurricanes in 2004 that were quite scary, causing more than twenty fatalities in central Florida, but leaving only limited damage within most areas of The Villages. Hurricanes Charlie, Andrew, Frances and Ivan came roaring through The Villages area in late August and early September of that year, knocking down trees and leaving quite a mess with palm fronds and branches everywhere. While some Villages residents were spared power outages, others were without electric for a week or more.
The responses visitors heard from the various resource people were all very similar. “We’ve been lucky that in 10 years or more, we have been spared catastrophic storms,” Fire Marshall Dan Hickey said. “The weather folks study patterns with sophisticated equipment, and do their best to predict storms well in advance — but the big storms tend to have a mind of their own –, and it’s sometimes a minute-by-minute situation tracking which way a storm is going to turn. The best thing we can do is be prepared, and know in advance what we will do in the event of a disaster.”
Lt. John Longacre of The Villages Public Safety Department, and Laurie Scheben, of Community Watch, both urged residents to have at least a 72-hour supply of fresh water on hand; enough non-perishable food for at least a few days and a supply of needed prescription drugs to last through the wake of a storm.
Have a designated place where you and your loved ones know to meet if you can’t go back to your home; know where area shelters are, and if you have medical needs — like oxygen or other breathing devices that require electric current, or prescription medicines — like some insulins — which require refrigeration — either have a generator available at home or know where you can go to quickly access electric power.
Both the Fire Marshall and Sumter Electric Cooperative (SECO) employees explained to area residents that because most of The Villages power supply is underground, there generally are less frequent power outages, but sometimes overhead wires or relay stations bringing the power to our area can be knocked out. There also can be problems with water pumping stations and processing of wastewater if storms disable utilities for extended periods of time.
Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) Deputy Chief, Sam Riceli, CERT Commander, Wayne Ward, and other CERT volunteers told visitors storm preparation is very important, but some of the worst problems can happen in the aftermath of a major storm.
“We don’t have storm surges — high water — here,” Ricelli said, “but people can inadvertently be shocked by downed wires; cut by broken glass or other debris, or become ill from unsanitary conditions.
Vendors were showing people their window coatings, spray and hurricane foam insulation, strong windows and shutters, all aimed to keep water and wind out of peoples’ homes. Cindy Donaldson from Sun Barrier in Longwood was demonstrating built-in window shutters which can serve as shields against strong winds. “We sell these shutters in central Florida as much for security purposes than storm protection, because most storms weaken before they get this far inland,” Donaldson said. “But they can deter crime by providing an additional layer of window protection and block views of homes’ interiors from outside. People on the coasts use them a lot for storms, but in Orlando, people buy them more often for crime protection as storm protection.”
Bob Andolsek of Home Depot was explaining compact electric generators to expo attendees. Rick Thurmond, Madeline Baran and other employees were showing insulated replacement windows and other home cabinets and goods which might be needed in the event of storm damage. ServicePro of Ocala is well known for their fire and water cleanup and restoration services, where fire, smoke and soot damage are involved, as well as mold, mildew and water damage. Curtis Jones and Betty Forrest of ServicePro demonstrated the strong fans, called air movers, large dehumidifiers and ozone neutralizer machines they use to quickly dry areas before mold and mildew can form. “We also provide all types of cleaning services, to prevent the spread of infectious disease in the event of a disaster, but we are also in the business of helping residents keep their homes in good shape at all times — even for routine cleaning and maid services.”
Humane Society/SPCA of Sumter County volunteers handed out literature about pet-friendly services for dogs, cats and other animals during storms and had ‘pet alert’ stickers for windows to alert emergency responders to the presence of pets in homes. Volunteer Mary Stater, who wore a brown-and-white dog costume with floppy ears to draw attention to their booth, was grateful for the cooler than normal weather on Friday. “She’s pretty brave to wear that,” fellow-volunteer, Claudia Labbe, said. “It can get mighty hot inside that furry outfit.”
CERT always accepts new volunteers to be trained in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), automatic external defibrillator (AED) use and advanced first aid techniques.
“We are several hundred strong,” CERT Commander, Wayne Ward, said, “and are prepared to help the professional responders and our neighbors at any time. But we all owe it to ourselves and our families to be as well prepared as we can, and to know what to do in case disaster strikes. We all need to follow officials’ instructions and have candles and fresh batteries, especially for our weather radios.”
