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Neighbor helping neighbor aids in storm preparations
By SUZETTE PORTER
Article published on Wednesday, July 12, 2006 |
CLEARWATER – Two residents of a mobile home park have taken a proactive approach toward hurricane preparation and the county wants to get the word out about the program’s success.
Marcia Crawley, communications department director, presented the county Board of Commissioners at its July 11 meeting with information about what she called a model plan for mobile home park hurricane preparation.
Crawley said the plan was developed for Amber Glades Mobile Home Park in Safety Harbor by two of the park’s residents.
“It all started with a couple of the residents getting together and deciding that the park wasn’t ready,” she said.
Amber Glades has 750 residents living in 412 coaches, Crawley said. She said the heart of the hurricane preparation plan included face-to-face, one-on-one interviews with residents. She said a committee was formed and 17 residents trained to become community emergency response team members.
She said the committee talked to people and learned who had special needs, was disabled, had pets or lived alone with no family for assistance. She said the committee discovered people’s barriers to planning and evacuating.
“Neighbors opened up to neighbors,” she said.
Crawley said the committee also put together a booklet of information and then sponsored a hurricane expo.
Crawley said the result of the proactive approach was that now 94 percent of residents have a plan and are ready to leave if a hurricane threatens.
The two residents who spearheaded the action have formed a company to provide the same service to other mobile home parks. She said Gary Vickers, Emergency Management director, was discussing contracting their services for next season.
Crawley said Emergency Management and the communications department were making a strong effort to get the word out to people, especially those living in mobile home parks, about the need for hurricane preparation.
However, she said, the county’s staff didn’t have the personal perspective of living in a mobile home park as the men who developed the Amber Glades plan.
Commissioner Susan Latvala said the plan made sense and shed light on why people did not evacuate, but she said time was of the essence in terms of the process to contract for services.
“It’s our responsibility to do something to help,” she said. “Our staff has no time.”
The consensus of the board was that the plan was good but not something that should be contracted by the county for the current hurricane season.
The BCC also decided against endorsing the company, and instead opted to send a letter to mobile home parks and residents informing them of the additional resource to help with preparation.
“We can do a letter, showing an example of what has been done making other parks aware of it so they can help themselves,” said Commissioner Ronnie Duncan.
Commissioner Kenneth Welch said residents also should be encouraged to form CERT teams and to talk to their local fire departments, as well as the county’s emergency management.
“We can bury people with information ... and still they’ll sit there with no plan,” said Latvala. “It takes neighbor helping neighbor.”
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Article published on Wednesday, July 12, 2006
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