Rode out the storm in a high school in Wesley Chapel, Florida. Evacuees were placed into many classrooms and gym-type rooms....around 1500 evacuees in two buildings.
As Charles Dickens put it...."it was the best of times and it was the worst of times".
The facility was NOT prepared for being slammed by an excess of people, and NOT even prepared for being crowded.
It was a "special needs" hurricane shelter. Many of the folks were limbless or had plastic legs, no arms, etc.....many were on large mobile oxygen machines or on a breathing apparatus of some kind, many were 300 to 400 lbs. lying immobile on cots, unable to get up on their own....some were blind, many crippled in a variety of ways...and so on.
Plenty of new cots, but no government purchaser had ever pre-tested them...bands of metal bulged through the narrow mattress creating pain and discomfort - some elderly couldn't lie on them at all and had to sit, sleep and nap upright on their wheelchairs or rollators.
The facility ran out of pillows and blankets early on. Most rooms were very cold. Paper sheets were then distributed but these ran out quickly. I rolled a pair of slacks into a small pillow shape and covered it with a square piece of plastic. Hard as a rock, lol.
No water distributed, only one dubious high school drinking fountain and the bathroom sink water. One glass of cold water was distributed in paper cups on the last day. No hot water for anything, no coffee, tea or whole milk. Bathrooms became wet and filthy with urine on the floors and seats of the toilets.
Food was indescribably horrific. A dinner was a slab of hard cold ill-tasting pizza and a plastic bag of cherry tomatoes which had been frozen and which were inedible....we got a tiny plastic carton of bright BLUE applesauce which was inedible and tasted nothing like applesauce. The only drinks served with meals were tiny cartons of terrible-tasting juices. But wait, AHA...some of the cartons said "FLORIDA JUICE", goody, goody...but, alas, the small print said juices were from China and "distributed" by a Florida company. The taste rendered the juices undrinkabale.
Tiny "beef tips" were pressed, stamped into disgusting little squares, gray clumps of nauseating matter.....and people were heard jokingly (!) asking if these were ground-up monkey or dog meat.
ALL food was COLD. It was eat the slop or starve. Most survived hunger pains with over-ripe bananas of which there were plenty. Some, like me, brought snacks from home...and my cherry cereal bars saved the day for me.
I could go on with more details on the "food", but it would sicken you...like the bathrooms (not enough staff help to keep the urine spills mopped up around the toilets) but you get the picture.
The "best of times" was the couple dozen or so staff volunteers who killed themselves helping, serving, soothing and comforting. The "best" was the several big, strong National Guardsmen the state of Florida sent (thank you, Florida Governor Scott !). The "best" was the 3 or 4 FEMA (federal disaster workers, strong men and women including male nurses) who, along with the national guardsmen, did heavy lifting, replenished oxygen tanks, soothed, comforted, etc. (thank you President Trump administration !).
The volunteers functioned selflessly, and without rest, the soldiers and FEMA's were invaluable....and the evacuees' morale was incredibly stout and upbeat no matter how sick or uncomfortable or hungry they were.
I hesitated to report publicly on this forum on what I saw during my stay (another freeper was in the shelter to verify what I'm reporting, btw.) I hesitated because I didn't want it to appear I was a "victim" or personally resentful or casting blame, or a complainer.
I started my career in the olden days as a reporter, then a writer for a publishing company, and I'm still a Brenda Starr at heart. I have reported things exactly as I saw 'em.
It appears it was the county government that bears responsibility for the horrific couple of days the special needs people underwent. I didn't even mention the county emergency transportation system that was broken (one call-in phone number for thousands of calls coming in to get a ride to the shelter). I, myself, had my phone plastered to my ear for NINE hours, trying to get the transportation service. So did countless others, they told me all about it.
The county government had years, months, weeks to plan for a hurricane warning and to ensure adequate supplies of NECESSARY things like pillows, blankets and edible food in case of a sudden dire emergency.....especially since this is the most hurricane-prone state in the union...and it doesn't take a Rhodes scholar to hope for the best but prepare for the worst in disaster planning.
Nothing is perfect, no one is perfect, no plan is perfect....but this special needs shelter turned out, unnecessarily, to be an EPIC FAIL in PLANNING !.
I also decided to post this report because I'm sending a copy of it to my specific county commissioner and also to the county commission chairman and other members so they get a first-hand account.
It's my heartfelt hope that the powers-that-be know of what went on in their emergency shelters (there were others shelters here and there, also) and that future disabled and special-needs people will be afforded at least and at the minimum their very basic needs when trouble looms.
I will be happy to answer any questions by freepmail...."MinuteGal"
Leni....Pasco County, Florida
Wow, MinuteGal, glad you survived and that you weren’t there too long to bear up. I would be frantic without palatable food and water, I admit it. Well done to you for contacting your state officials.
Heart breaking !
Were homes intact to return to?
So sorry to hear about such pathetic conditions you had to put up with for 3 long days. This should not happen in Florida, but reading your report, I learned what to expect if I end up in a shelter, and will be better prepared now.
We went to niece in Ocala and they were out of power for several days as well as running water. Daughter living in NPR told our power only out for 1+ day!!!