Hurricane Ian: One Year Later

2023 • HURRICANE IAN: ONE YEAR LATER • 27 adno=3903063-1 • Air Ducts • Heating & Cooling • Filtration • Attic Insulation • Ultra Violet Light System • Furnace Heater • HVAC System Cleaning CALL NOW 941-280-6793 Serving South West Florida FREE ESTIMATES Clean Air for your Family COMPLETE AIR DUCT SERVICES CALL NOW The county will have a shelter manager there who will supervise the delivery of supplies, like cots, food, water and other equipment, Ham explained. Law enforcement agencies will be involved and school resource officers will be there for the shelter schools, if possible. "We like to have people on site who know the school," Ham said. If necessary, the National Guard can come in as well. "With the practice we've had in previous years, we just keep getting better," he said. In fact, Ham and members of his team had done a walk-through with EOC personnel at the time of this interview in August, "to see what we can improve." They again went into action later in the month — this time for real — as Hurricane Idalia entered the Gulf of Mexico and threatened Florida's west coast. WHO'S IN CHARGE? While people are present in the shelter, it is the shelter manager who runs things. However, the principals and assistant principals are "the keyholders" for their schools. "We try to keep the keys in their hands, so we can protect our schools." The principals and other staff members know their campuses and work with the shelter managers. The principals and assistant and vice principals usually take shifts. With two hurricanes in the last six years, many of those involved know the routine, Ham said. "It's pretty well-oiled," he said The three elementary schools that come into play are Liberty, Neil Armstrong and Kingsway. County officials will announce when the shelters are planned for opening, and usually people begin arriving soon after — especially if evacuations are announced for low-lying and coastal areas. The shelter's management team shows the arriving residents to their living areas. When winds pick up, each shelter is secured for the duration of the storm. When the storm is passed, if it's safe to leave, people can go. The shelter managers work with school transportation heads, Ham said. "We can get school buses to get anyone out to where they need to be." Then the cleanup begins. The EOC contracts a cleanup crew that comes into the schools, cleaning each room that was used during the shelter period. "They do a deep clean," Ham said. School support managers will do walk- through checks. District custodians are on hand, and they will work together to put things back to where they need to be for teachers and students to return to school. The turnaround is quick. After Ian, with Gov. Ron DeSantis pushing for schools to reopen, Sarasota County Schools welcomed back students Oct. 10 in North County, while schools in harder-hit North Port and Englewood were mostly open by Oct. 17. Charlotte County, which was hit significantly harder by Ian, had 19 of the district's 21 schools back open by Oct. 18. Port Charlotte and L.A. Ainger middle schools were reopened a few days later. While Hurricane Ian beat up many of the Charlotte County schools, most held up, some because of retrofitting since Hurricane Charley in 2004. Other non-shelter schools in the district like Charlotte High and Lemon Bay High are new since the previous storm. North Port High School Principal Shannon Fusco talks to volunteers at the school Sept. 27, 2022 before people begin arriving there to shelter from Hurricane Ian. SUN photos by All Faiths Food Bank driver Michelle Collins unloads apple sauce, chips and other snacks at North Port High School, a designated Sarasota County pet-friendly shelter on Sept. 27, 2022.

• Cover